Helloooo Livejournal! And by LJ, I basically mean Ally!
I seriously haven't posted anything in yearsss! But, using Livejournal is the easiest way to document my travels, I suppose haha.
So far Italy has been great. It has had it's ups and downs (ups being the amazing, art, culture, history, and many many beautiful sights/sites) (downs being some of the people, being stuck in a triple bunk bed/room with strangers, the noise, the drivers, the fact that it is beyond expensive to live here, and the lack of diversity in food and other things haha). I'm already becoming desensitized to the fact that I'm here. When I first arrived I was soo excited and soo amazed by the fact that I'd be living and breathing in Ancient history everyday. My everyday walk past the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica has become commonplace and a nuisance because all of the "stupid tourists" get in my way when I'm already running late to class. The beautiful cobblestone and brick work is becoming the annoying uneven ground that I find myself constantly tripping over. Haha
I honestly need to remind myself everyday how lucky I am to be here. I'm already taking it for granted. I stopped and stared at the Vatican yesterday as I was walking home with the girl next door. We both stopped and realized that we don't even look anymore, we're too busy with our lives. It's absolutely insane!
And the fact that I am already finding myself missing things from back at home makes me feel so ashamed! Ahh I need to snap out of it! Haha
I walk past the Pope's house twice a day!!
We had a week long break last week before our extensive classes started, before that we just had 3 weeks of Italian language instruction. I went to Spain with 4 other girls. We went to Granada (absolutely beautiful) and Barcelona (freaking amazing). I absolutely loved Spain! A lot of ppl have negative opinions of it, but I honestly felt at home there. I could see myself possibly living or studying there as well. I wish I had more than just a week there. I saw some amazing sites, visited amazing museums, stayed in hostels with random guys, ate the most amazing vegetarian food!! I tried hookah for the first time in Granada and I can honestly say I never understood it before and I still don't understand it! Lol the chai tea they served was freaking amazing though. Yum I can still taste it! My throat got really sore though due to the hookah and the excessive amount of smoking ppl do throughout Spain and Europe in general. Went to a really cool club, and a few somewhat awkward bars/clubs as well. Met some cool ppl and some not so cool/beyond creepy ppl. Haha I can't wait to go back!
Oh I forgot to add that the train ride from Barcelona to Granada is supposed to take 9 hours (painful enough) but ended up taking over 14 hours because someone fell onto the tracks/ or committed suicide and got hit by the train before mine. Our train had to stop in order for the police and ambulances to clear the tracks. And all of that happened on my second night in Spain; if that's any indication of the roller coaster ride that would be the rest of my trip! Craziness!!
Weather in Rome thus far has been miserably hot and humid. Twice daily showers are a necessity, if not a minimum. This week it has cooled down tremendously however. It rained today unexpectedly, and I had to run 30 minutes from school to my apartment wearing a light cardigan and sandals. Horrible! I need an umbrella and I'm super pissed I let my mom talk me out of bringing my rainboots! UGHHHHH!
Granada:
Barcelona:
I also may fly to Capri next weekend if I can get out of my Sociology class early enough. :\ I really hope it works out, I think it'd be soo amazing!
Sorry this has been such a long entry! I'm sure it could have been muuuch longer! Haha
Love ya ,
Danie
So far Italy has been great. It has had it's ups and downs (ups being the amazing, art, culture, history, and many many beautiful sights/sites) (downs being some of the people, being stuck in a triple bunk bed/room with strangers, the noise, the drivers, the fact that it is beyond expensive to live here, and the lack of diversity in food and other things haha). I'm already becoming desensitized to the fact that I'm here. When I first arrived I was soo excited and soo amazed by the fact that I'd be living and breathing in Ancient history everyday. My everyday walk past the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica has become commonplace and a nuisance because all of the "stupid tourists" get in my way when I'm already running late to class. The beautiful cobblestone and brick work is becoming the annoying uneven ground that I find myself constantly tripping over. Haha
I honestly need to remind myself everyday how lucky I am to be here. I'm already taking it for granted. I stopped and stared at the Vatican yesterday as I was walking home with the girl next door. We both stopped and realized that we don't even look anymore, we're too busy with our lives. It's absolutely insane!
And the fact that I am already finding myself missing things from back at home makes me feel so ashamed! Ahh I need to snap out of it! Haha
I walk past the Pope's house twice a day!!
We had a week long break last week before our extensive classes started, before that we just had 3 weeks of Italian language instruction. I went to Spain with 4 other girls. We went to Granada (absolutely beautiful) and Barcelona (freaking amazing). I absolutely loved Spain! A lot of ppl have negative opinions of it, but I honestly felt at home there. I could see myself possibly living or studying there as well. I wish I had more than just a week there. I saw some amazing sites, visited amazing museums, stayed in hostels with random guys, ate the most amazing vegetarian food!! I tried hookah for the first time in Granada and I can honestly say I never understood it before and I still don't understand it! Lol the chai tea they served was freaking amazing though. Yum I can still taste it! My throat got really sore though due to the hookah and the excessive amount of smoking ppl do throughout Spain and Europe in general. Went to a really cool club, and a few somewhat awkward bars/clubs as well. Met some cool ppl and some not so cool/beyond creepy ppl. Haha I can't wait to go back!
Oh I forgot to add that the train ride from Barcelona to Granada is supposed to take 9 hours (painful enough) but ended up taking over 14 hours because someone fell onto the tracks/ or committed suicide and got hit by the train before mine. Our train had to stop in order for the police and ambulances to clear the tracks. And all of that happened on my second night in Spain; if that's any indication of the roller coaster ride that would be the rest of my trip! Craziness!!
Weather in Rome thus far has been miserably hot and humid. Twice daily showers are a necessity, if not a minimum. This week it has cooled down tremendously however. It rained today unexpectedly, and I had to run 30 minutes from school to my apartment wearing a light cardigan and sandals. Horrible! I need an umbrella and I'm super pissed I let my mom talk me out of bringing my rainboots! UGHHHHH!
Granada:
Barcelona:
I also may fly to Capri next weekend if I can get out of my Sociology class early enough. :\ I really hope it works out, I think it'd be soo amazing!
Sorry this has been such a long entry! I'm sure it could have been muuuch longer! Haha
Love ya ,
Danie