Rebecca Does Rome

Monday we arrived at about 3:30pm. We all met Martin in the lobby for our Rome debriefing at 4pm. Martin's favorite city is Rome and he knows so much about it that he always takes the students around Rome himself. Unfortunately, Martin broke his foot right before we left for Florence so he had to hire a tour guide for a day to show us around. Monday afternoon, though, we had to ourselves. Our hotel was in an area called Porta Maggiore which is close to the train station. It is also close to St. John Lateran Basilica and the Holy Steps. Right before the 5 girls left for the church it started pouring rain. It really wasn't what we needed when we were already "Europed out." Somehow we found enough energy to find the church in the rain. It was worth it because the church was pretty. It was the first Christian basilica in Rome and is one of the main churches in Rome. Right across the street are the Holy Steps. When Constantine was Emperor, his mother, Helen was a strong Christian and ordered that Pontius Pilate's stairs be brought from Jerusalem to Rome. They have been in Rome ever since. These are the stairs that Jesus walked up when we was arrested. The marble stairs are now covered by wood and you can only see the real stairs from openings. The stairs, though, are only to be walked up on your knees. It was a bit painful but it was a cool experience. To think that those were the stairs that Jesus walked up before he died for us was hard to wrap my head around. After that we walked back to the hotel looking for food as we went. Since it was only 6pm we had to wait until after 7pm to sit down anywhere. Ginny, Molly, Emily and I ate at a small place right down the street from the hotel. It was decent food but a better atmosphere. We stayed there for a good 3 hours. I have to say that long meals are something that I really enjoy about the Italian culture. Once we were basically kicked out of the restaurant, I headed back to my room and read before I fell asleep.

Tuesday morning we awoke to rain. It put a huge damper on the day. It rained off and on the whole day- and of course it was the day we had a tour guide to show us around. We met in the lobby at 9:30 and we weren't done with the tour until 4. It was a long day but we saw a lot. There are a lot of cool things in Rome- my favorite being the Coliseum. It’s amazing how it was built and that it has lasted this long too. The ruins and the Roman Forum right next to it are cool too. We saw the famous Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. We also walked on Capitoline Hill to see Michelangelo's architectural work. We walked a lot that day and learned more about Rome's history. After we finished at the Coliseum Emily, Tricia and I found a great place to eat. I had another great pasta dish and we got waffles for dessert. We didn't get back until after 10pm so we were tired from our long day of walking and sight seeing.

Wednesday morning a few of us woke up and walked to the train station. A few of the girls had to train back to Verona to either meet with family or fly home. After they bought their train tickets we walked to St. Mary Major church. It was another gorgeous church. The ceiling is covered in the first gold that Christopher Columbus brought back from America. The artist Bernini and his family are buried there. Also, there are relics from Jesus' manager there as well. Who knows if it really is but its cool to think that it might be that old. From there we walked through town to the Vatican City. It took awhile but it was a pretty day and great weather. Finally we caught a break in the weather! When we got to Vatican City the Pope was speaking- apparently it happens on certain Wednesdays. That was pretty cool though. Then we walked all the way around to get into the Vatican museum. We had a tour guide in the museum but it was hard to hear her so I just did a lot of wandering and viewing. The Raphael room was really cool- I like the School of Athens painting the most. At the end of the museum is the Sistine Chapel. It really was incredible. I'm not really sure how to describe it except that it was amazing. After we were done admiring his work we walked over to St. Peter's. It, too, is a gorgeous church. The tour guide told us that nothing else can be built taller than the St. Peter's dome so you can always see it. Michelangelo's Pieta is also in St. Peter's. This was my favorite Pieta that Michelangelo sculpted. After we saw the whole church we continued to walk around the Vatican City area. We grabbed a bite to eat and explored more of Rome. We ended up at the Spanish steps and rested our legs and people watched. I liked that area and I liked soaking up the sun too. We stayed a little too long and had to walk very briskly back to the hotel. We decided to have our farewell dinner Wednesday night instead of Thursday which worked out much better. My feet were killing me though, from all of the walking we had done. Our dinner was at the hotel because Martin couldn't really do much searching with his broken foot. It ended up not being as lame as I had anticipated since we were all together- which is really all that mattered. The dinner was pretty decent too. Once we finished our meals and all talked about our favorite memories we headed out. We didn't stay out at the bar too long since we still had one more day in Rome.

Thursday we all met downstairs at 9am for a bus tour with Martin. This way we could see things that were further from the city and we could have all the historical stories from Martin. The bus tour was good. Martin showed us St. Paul's basilica. It was yet another gorgeous church and it was located where Paul was killed. Our tour was over around noon and he dropped us off in the downtown area. Ginny, Tricia and I walked with Jake to another church where Peter's chains are. Unfortunately the church was closed when we went so we left to go to the Borghese Gardens. It was going to be a long walk and Tricia had to catch a train back so we had to say goodbye then. As you may know, I'm not the best with goodbyes but its nice knowing that I will see everyone again. I am already looking forward to seeing everyone in Athens- and the other places we may meet up! After Trish left, the 3 of us walked to the gardens. Jake and Ginny took a nap while I read my book. It got a bit cloudy but otherwise it was another gorgeous day to just lie around in the park. After an hour or so we left. Jake went on his way and Ginny and I met up with Molly at the church to see Peter's chains. The chains were used on Peter and as the story in the Bible explains, while he was chained an angel appeared and freed him from them. Also in this church is Michelangelo's Moses statue. It, too, was incredible. So much detail, so many feelings from what used to be a block of marble. From there we walked back to see the Trevi Fountain in good weather and also to the Pantheon. Then the 3 of us walked back to the Vatican area where we met Emily and her boyfriend for dinner. Ginny went to this restaurant with her mother in February and she wanted to take us there too. It was another great dinner! We all rode the metro but Molly, Ginny and I stopped at the Spanish steps to see them at night time. We all got our last serving of gelato and ate it on the stairs. Ginny somehow got a cone of gelato and it ended up being 12 euro- which is about 15 dollars. There was nothing she could do so we all laughed about it. Around 10pm we rode the metro back towards our hotel and finished packing everything up. I said my goodbyes and caught as much sleep as possible. Rome was one of my favorite cities! I really liked it! I am not sure what it was about it but it just had a lot of history and charm.

Four girls got a private car to take us to the airport and it was an adventure. There wasn't enough room for our entire luggage so it was in our laps in the back seat, oh and the driver was flying down the streets. That was a time I was legitimately scared in a car that I wasn't driving. Both of the flights were smooth! My parents met me when I came up the escalator and all my roommates surprised me by running at me while I waited for my luggage! It was so sweet and great to see them all!

Rebecca does Florence

We left Verona on Friday morning. I think we all felt it was a bittersweet departure. We had such a great last night together though, so if anything we were all in great, friendly moods. The people on this trip were all different and we all brought something entertaining to the table. The bus ride to Florence was fine. Honestly, I love bus rides. They always remind me of the days that we would take field trips during middle and high school. Those trips were the best because the teachers were relaxed and we could all just have a great time. Anyways, during the ride to Florence most people were sleeping off the night before. I wrote in my journal some and enjoyed the views. We got into Florence at about 2 or 3. Once we dropped all of our stuff off we were free to do what we wanted. The whole weekend it was five girls that hung out and it was a great group. We walked straight to the Galleria dell Academia where Michelangelo's David is held. As I mentioned in March, this was something I was really excited about. We completely lucked out and came to Florence during Cultural Week. That meant all the state museums were free- including the Academia. The line wasn't long, we only waited for 5 minutes. It’s a surprisingly small museum and really not that elaborate on the outside. We walked in the first room for a few minutes and then ventured into the next room. I am so glad that we had that Italian History class in the beginning because we learned about a lot of the art in Florence and Rome. The Academia also holds Michelangelo's prisoners. Anyways, at the end of the long hall was it- the famous David. It was incredible. We stood there for about 20 minutes just taking in the whole thing. It took him 3 years to complete and the detail is incredible. After we finished looking in the museum we walked through the famous Florence market. Florence is known for its leather. I had not planned on buying anything for myself in Florence- but of course I found a great leather bag. I got it for just 25 euro too, which was a great deal. It’s a bit vintage but I love that look. The rest of the night we walked around to get a feel for the town. Florence is extremely easy to navigate. One of my friends, Ginny, came to Florence before the trip with her mother and had some amazing soup at a restaurant near the duomo. We went there and I had one of the best pastas I have had in Italy. It was divine. It was penne with a spicy red sauce and garlic. It was absolutely delicious! After dinner we took the long way back to the hotel. I started reading a book when I got back, while everyone skyped with their families and I was dead asleep in about 15 minutes. I was super tired from the late night in Verona and the long day in Florence.

On Saturday we met our tour guide in the lobby at 9:30. We went straight to the Piazza Signoria- the political district. That’s where one of the David replicas is and some other famous statutes. After she told us all about the Piazza we went into the Uffizi gallery. We got to see a lot of cool art though- including the famous Venus and Primavera works by Botticelli. Once we were finished in the Uffizi, the 5 of us walked across Ponte Vecchio. This is the famous Florence bridge that is covered in jewelry shops. From there we walked to the Pitti Palace and ate our lunches in the Piazza in front if it. After we had rested our legs we walked to the famous Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace and enjoyed the views and the beautiful greenery. After we felt done there we walked to the Duomo Museum. It was also a small museum but it has one of Michelangelo's Pietas which was really cool. Also, the baptistery in Florence has the famous "Gates of Paradise" which are bronze doors, designed by Ghiberti, depicting 10 scenes from the Old Testament. The doors on the baptistery now are replicas- but the real ones are in the Duomo Museum. There have also been replicas made to the sides of the bell tower- campanile- and the original statues, etc are in the Duomo Museum. Once we were finished there we headed to the Duomo in the hopes of catching the 6:00 English mass- but when we got to the doors we read that it was actually at 5:00 on Saturdays. We were all pretty disappointed. From there we walked around and tried to find a place to eat. Between the 5 of us we couldn't agree on a place so we split up. I got another dish of the pasta and Bolognese sauce. It was another delicious plate of pasta. It was a large serving too, which I needed. After that we ventured to Santa Croce church and piazza. There was a delicious food market that we walked through and got a few pastries for dessert. By 10 we were all exhausted and walked back to the hotel. It was a great day- but it all hit us that we were going home soon. We all went through a few hours of hoping to be back in America- but also knowing we needed to make the most of where we were.

Sunday we met our tour guide in the lobby at 9:30 again. Unfortunately the great weather ran out, and it was raining off and on all day. The tour guide planned a city walk so the rain was quite a bummer. She took us through places we had already walked through but told us more history which was nice. In the middle of our tour she gave us a 30 minute break and we went into the Bargello museum. It, too, was free because of cultural week. We waited in line for almost 30 minutes thinking it was to see the exhibit- but to our surprise, it wasn't what we came to see. Since we were crunched for time, we had to quickly walk through the museum- finding all of the pieces we had learned about in class. It was neat because Florence had a competition for the baptistery doors- that are now called the "Gates of Paradise." The competition was between Ghiberti and Brunelleschi. In the Bargello museum they had the two competition squares that decided that Ghiberti would be the artist. From the Bargello museum we met the rest of the group at the Santa Croce church. It’s actually more of a museum now- but they still have mass there. This is where the scientist Galileo was buried as well as the famous Michelangelo; both of which were neat to see. Our tour guide gave us plenty of detail on the church and the tombs too. We finished the tour there and everyone split up again. We had planned on going into Sienna for the afternoon but since we were all a bit burned out from traveling- and it was raining- we decided to chill in Florence for the afternoon. A few girls had to finish up their souvenir shopping, so we headed back towards the markets. We also went into the duomo- and it was gorgeous. On our walk back to the hotel we tried to stop in the Santa Maria Novella church but we missed it by 15 minutes. We were all hungry by that time- big surprise- so we started looking for a place to eat. It is hard to find anything that is open before 7pm for dinner in Italy though. We ended up at a kebab place because it was close and open. I have never had a kebab before so I figured I would go ahead and try one. I just got a regular kebab with chicken and it was good. We stayed there for a long time just resting our legs and laughing at everything from the trip. One of the girls wanted coffee and we went into a McDonalds on the walk back. I had been refusing to step in another McDonalds until my arrival in the states but I went in and ordered a 1Euro milkshake anyways. In fact, the 5 of us stayed in that McDonalds for over an hour. We just needed some down time plus one conversation topic lead to the next. Once we realized how many people we had seen come in and out we knew we needed to go back to the hotel. When we got back we all packed everything back up and watched a movie before bed. We didn't leave for Rome until 10:30 so I got a great night of rest.

I really enjoyed Florence. Honestly, I was hard to fully enjoy it though. I was so close to coming home that thoughts of America consumed me. The rain definitely didn't help anything. But, Florence is a wonderful city with so much to see. It is full of great history, great art and great churches. After the short time in Florence we headed to Rome...

Ciao Verona!

So, this is it. My time in Verona has come to an end. It has been a great week though and I have to say that I am sad to leave such an amazing town. Verona isn't your normal tourist town but it has enough going on with the locals that its very enjoyable. Former students told us to take advantage of Verona, but I think it took us traveling like crazy for over a month, and great weather, for us to really believe that about Verona too. Since our trip to Munich, I have stayed in Italy. I have really enjoyed exploring this country and I am looking forward to our trip to Florence and Rome.

This week went by rather quickly, of course. Monday was spent getting work done and catching up things that had been neglected. A few of us went to our last kick-boxing class. Once class was over we took a picture with our instructor. I think he was pretty disappointed that we were leaving. We brought him a lot of entertainment in that class. Tuesday I had the morning off so my friend Trish and I went into town and bought the rest of the souvenirs. Our teacher for this last block is from the Verona area and wanted to have us over to his house and have class there. We were all very tentative about it, since its our last week in Verona, but we didn't want to hurt his feelings. We took a bus from the train station to his house and when we got there we got to enjoy a gorgeous view of Italy. I am really glad that we went to his house- he feed us some great gnocchi and had plenty of bread and cheese for us all! Once we finished our great lunch/dinner, we all did our presentations for the class. Once everyone was done we just hung out at his place for a few hours. Some people played tennis in his backyard and some of us hung out inside listening to music. I still really enjoy getting to know everyone that is in the group! We didn't get back into Verona until about 9:30 but since we stayed so long at his house, our teacher cancelled class for Wednesday! Tuesday night I was craving the office so I watched a few episodes and went to bed late. I slept in and then explored more of Verona with the time I'd be spending in class. When I got back I caught some sun rays outside in the gorgeous day! Wednesday night we all went to our favorite gelato place and walked to "The Point" where we've watched the sunset! We always have a great time up there, especially with gelato in our bellies! Today (Thursday) was our last day of class- the final wasn't too bad. Overall the classes weren't too bad and I'm really hoping for a strong semester GPA! I can't believe my summer has already begun adn that I'm technically a college senior now. Where have my years gone?! Anyways, after class I finished packing and went into town for alittle bit. Today was our first thunderstorm since we have been in Europe. I must say that I had forgotten how nice a loud thunderstorm can be. The rest of the day has been colder and very breezy! At 6:30 everyone in the group met in the lobby to go to our farewell dinner. I can't believe that in November I was hearing about this dinner and now its already here. The place we had dinner was out of Verona but was a full 6 course meal! I am not sure if I have ever eatten that much beforebut everything was delicious! And it was so nice to hang out with everyone too! So much has changed since our welcome dinner back in February. To think that 10 weeks ago I was freaking out at dinner not knowing how many friends I would have made over the course of the program. Even the teachers came to dinner with us which was fun! On our way back into town on the bus we had a good time listening to some good American music- I even pulled out some Thriller and Single Ladies moves when the songs came on. Haha, it was a great ride! We were dropped off downtown and hit up a few places before walking back to the residence!

Its just so hard to believe that we're moving out tomorrow! I'm all packed up though and I'm really hoping I am okay on weight. If not, I have a plan B to bring out at the airport, if needed. We leave tomorrow for Florence and then on Monday, the 27th, for Rome. It'll be nice to have everything taken care of and just worrying about food. Plus I'm excited to see everything that both cities have to offer! I'm not sure what kind of internet access I'll have while in the hotels but I hope to update the blog as soon as I can. And in a week, I'll be back in the states and you can just call me up and ask me about my trip! I can't wait for that easy convenience!

Thanks again for reading, caring, praying and loving! You all are really special to me and this trip has made me realize that more and more! I have had an amazing time in Europe, I can't wait to come back- but I am ready to be back in America, where I am closer to you all!

With all my American born love,

Becca-Boo

Rebecca Does Rimini, San Marino and Bologna

Well, I can honestly say that my time in Europe has flown by! This past weekend was our last free-travel weekend! Four girls went to Rimini, Italy for the weekend and made a few day trips too!

Thursday, after class, we all ran to the grocery store to buy snacks for our train ride to Rimini. Rimini is one of the most popular beach towns in Italy. The season doesn't start until late May- early June but we knew that going into it. After all of our traveling we all wanted a relaxing, chill weekend- which means the less people the better. Our train ride was only 2.5 hours which was another plus to the destination. Once we got there we walked to our hostel. The hostel was fairly new and was really nice. There weren't many people staying in it over the weekend, but we could tell that when its the season, the hostel is a lot of fun. The owner was really nice and helpful. Thursday night we walked around and did a little shopping. Then we had dinner at a restaurant nearby. I had pasta with bolognese sauce and it was delicious. We all thought that our food was some of the best we've had yet. We walked back to the hostel and crashed pretty early after dinner.

One of the many great things about the trip was the flexibility. Because there were only 4 of us we could decide what we wanted to do as we went- and since Rimini is a smaller city, that gave us room to move things around or go somewhere else. We really wanted to spend time on the beach so that was the top priority on our small agenda for the weekend. Once we ate our free breakfast, we decided to go ahead and go to the beach while the weather was nice. We made a pit stop at the grocery store to grab some snacks. I have recently become obsessed with kiwi. Its just so delicious! So I grabbed those and some plums. The beach was really clean and it was also really empty. The first 45 minutes were great. It was breezing which caused sand to go everywhere but the sun kept us warm. Once the clouds set in we got pretty cold. We stayed out there for about 3 hours and then decided to walk back to the hostel. We went up to the terrace and caught a few more rays while siesta was going on. Once it was 4 we headed out to the shops. I had not planned on getting anything but then splurged and bought a pearl necklace. I really love it though- its gorgeous! After we were all done with shopping we went back to the grocery store. We thought it would be nice to cook our own dinner at the hostel so we just bought stuff for a salad and stuff for our tortileni. We were all hungry when we got back so we just went ahead and cooked everything. It was delicious! Plus it was nice to save money. After dinner we all cleaned up and got ready to go out. We read that Rimini has the best discotechas in Italy but once we saw how slow the beach was, we knew that the discotechas that were open would be empty and it wouldn't be worth it. So, with the advise of the owner of the hostel, we walked down the street to a place called Barrumba that was on the beach. Once we got there we quickly realized we didn't want to stay too long. There were loads of people there but they just looked at us because they knew we were American. The men here have said really dumb things to us and have also hissed at us. Its getting pretty old to be honest. Few people speak english well enough to have a conversation with any of us and since only one of the 4 was drinking we left pretty soon. We've learned that for the 4 of us, going out in Europe isn't worth it because its hard to meet people or be comfortable with all the men staring. We walked back to the hostel and crashed when we got in bed.

Saturday we went into San Marino. San Marino is one of the smallest republics in Europe- besides the Vatican and Monaco. I had not even heard about San Marino until Emily read about it and told us that we should go. We caught a bus at the train station and rode for about a hour. San Marino was really gorgeous. Its on a mountain and gives gorgeous views. We walked around a lot and did some shopping too. Once it started to rain we ate lunch. I had gnocchi with bolognese sauce again. It was really good and really filling too. It quit raining by the time we were finished which was perfect. We walked around more and then caught the 3pm bus back into Rimini. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Rimini. It isn't huge but its really cute and has plenty to offer. Once we felt like we had seen enough we walked back to the hostel. We had gelato in San Marino and the other 3 had gelato another time in Rimini so we just ate our left over salad from Friday night. I was worried it wouldn't be enough for me but then the owner brought over a local meal that he wanted us to try. They were called padinas and its similar to a tortilla but its a little different. The ones he gave us were filled with tomatoes and mozerella and also potatoes, ham and cheese. They were both delicious! The rest of the night we played a bit of cards and packed up our stuff. Its was fun because we reflected on the whole trip. Throughout the weekend we would ask each other questions like "Whats been your favorite dish?", "Whats been your biggest regret", "Whats your favorite purchase?", "What has been your favorite city?", etc. Its good to prepare for all these questions that I am sure I'll get when I get back to the states. Also on Saturday we discussed our plans for Sunday. Our train went through Bologna so we wanted to take the day and see it. It all depended on the weather as to what time we left Rimini because we all wanted more time on the beach.

Sunday morning we woke up to rain. That decided our plans- to get to Bologna as soon as possible. We ate our last breakfast in our last hostel and then hit the road. When we got into Bologna it was raining pretty hard. In our books we read that Bologna is known for its food so we definitely wanted to eat a meal there. With the weather as bad as it was we decided to just eat and get back on the train. Since we decided not to stay long we didn't leave our bags in storage at the train station and had to carry it all around town. For some reason we had a really hard time finding a place to eat. We ended up walking around for over a hour- seeing the sights and searching for a restaurant. By the time we had given up on the idea of eatting because our backs were hurting, we finally found a place. I got the spagetti with bolognese sauce again and it was delicious. We all ordered bruschetta before and it was the best any of us have ever had. Once we were full and completely satisfied we headed back to the train station to catch the 3:30 train. Our last train ride was smooth and got us back into Verona alittle after 5.

So thats it. Thats the last weekend of my own traveling. I only have 3 more full days left in Verona. Thursday is our final and we all leave on Friday for Florence. I'll post another blog about my last week and our plans for Florence and Rome. Thanks again for reading and for supporting me! I've said it a lot, but it really does mean a lot.

I've posted some pictures below but I've also finally started to post all my pictures on my Picasa account. Hopefully I can finish it all before Thursday and give you all the link! I hope all is well in the states! Only 12 more days and I will be back!

With all my Love,

RRR

My awkward picture with the hostel VW Bus!

Rimini from the hostel terrace!

Me in San Marino
Gorgeous view!

Leaning towers in Bologna!

Street in Bologna!

Pictures from Venice, Verona and Lake Garda

Me in Venice at night. Thats the Grand Canal behind me!

The Famous Gandolas!

First sunset in Verona!

Soccer game in Verona!

Me and the second sunset in Verona!

So gorgeous!

Rebecca and Lake Garda

Gorgeous Lake Garda

Rebecca Does Venice, Verona, and Lake Garda

Well, things have gotten crazy here! Sorry for not blogging sooner! There is so much to update you on- so this might be long! The pictures are in the post right above this one! Enjoy!

After Munich we started a new block of classes. This last block I only have one class- that doesn't start until 11am which is so nice. I started the week by getting up when the gym opened (at 9am) and went running. The class I am taking, though, is Business Ethics, which is required for my major. Our teacher is actually from Verona but is working at the University of Virginia. He is pretty nice but runs his class in a confusing manor. Tuesday was a special day. The first weekend we were in Italy, almost everyone on the trip went into Venice for Carnival. I didn't want to see Venice with all the Carnival craziness so I stayed in Verona with my friend from Nashville- Ginny. Since then I have been planning on a day to go to Venice. Ginny had a friend from Vandy come to visit her in Verona on her way to Venice so it was the perfect time to go! I have the later class so I just rode the train in right after class and met Ginny and her friend in town. It was the perfect day to go to Venice! I loved it! I wasn't there long so I didn't get to see everything but I saw enough. Ginny and I got to have a nice dinner on the water before we caught our train back that night too. I really enjoyed it! I didn't have time to ride a gandola but when I got off the train, I had to take a water taxi down the grand canal to meet them. That ride was gorgeous. Plus, the gandola rides are like $100 which I didn't realize. I'm sure when I'm older my husband will want to treat me to a gandola ride though, so I wasn't too disappointed. :)

Wednesday I just had class and spent some time outside soaking up the rays after class. Thursday after class a few of us headed into town to try and find Verona's famous gardens. We didn't officially find them but we found two other really important things. The first one was our new favorite gelateria. Not only is it only a euro for a scoop, but its a giant scoop. Plus I tried cinnamon that time and it was delicious! Shortly after we found the gelato, while we were still walking around town, we found the closest thing to Mexican food we have seen. It was closed because of siesta but the pictures and prices on the windows looked amazing. We quickly planned a time to go back and get dinner there! Soon after that I walked back to the residence to skype with my roommate in Athens. The rest of the day was spent going to a work out class and watching a movie with some girls. It was so nice to be able to rest for the weekend. I am really glad we decided to stay in Verona for this weekend. One because its crazy to travel on Easter weekend, but two because it was the perfect weekend to relax and see more of Verona in great, warm weather. Friday morning, while everyone slept in, I woke up and went to a step-aerobics class. I got some work done after that, for summer jobs, and then I headed into town because it was such a gorgeous day! I did a little shopping too, which is always productive. I got some tank tops, because I didn't pack for such warm weather, and I got a black dress for football games. I know you're all thinking I need another black dress like I need a hole in my head- but I don't have a black dress from Italy, so it was worth the cheap 20 euro I paid for it! :) When I got back, everyone was wide awake- so we all layed out for a few hours. Then we started talking about the mexican place so we quickly got changed and walked there. The food was actually pretty good. My friend Elle and I split a chicken quesdilla and a chicken burrito. It was lots of food and both were good. From there we walked up to Elle's favorite place in town. Its a spot that over looks the city and is gorgeous at sunset. It really was gorgeous and I loved just hanging out with the girls up there. We started talking about how little time we had left in Verona and it made us all sad. We're all making the most of it though! Once the sun disappeared we had to go back to the great gelato place and get another big scoop. It was just as delicious on round 2. Friday night we watched another movie- it was called Righteous Kill. It was pretty good, a little depressing though.

Saturday morning I slept through the workout class but I think I needed my sleep. Saturday was a great day because we went to an Italian soccer game! There are two teams in Verona but we saw the better of the two- Chievo. Chievo played against AC Milan, who is better than Chievo but also just a good team in general. Its also the team that is "borrowing" David Beckham until July. I honestly didn't think he would come to Verona, but I guess since he is on the team he has to. Plus I read where he was injured- I just didn't want my hopes to be up. Our seats were kind of high but the man next to me told me he was there but was injured so he wasn't going to play. We only got to see Beckham through our zoomed in camera lenses, but we still got to see him nonetheless. Also, AC Milan was 2 of the best soccer players- one of them being one of the highest paid. Kaka and Ronaldinho are both mid-fielders from Brazil. The game was loads of fun. It was just neat to be in Italy for the game- hearing all these men screaming things in Italian that none of us understood. Kaka started the game and then with 20 minutes or so left in the 2nd half Ronaldinho came in. They both were good. Chievo wasn't too bad though. Milan won 1-0. It was a great time! After the game we walked back to the residence because one of the girls was celebrating her 21st birthday and we were going out to pizza for her! We went to a new place (can't remember the name) but it was probably the best pizza that I have had in Italy. It was delicious! From there we headed to a few bars for her to celebrate being 21. There weren't that many of us that stayed in Verona for the weekend so it was a pretty chill night. Sunday, Easter morning, we all got up and went to a Easter Catholic Mass at a nearby church. It was really crowded but I am so glad we went! Most of us didn't understand a word but to be there in Italy was very cool. After church we ate at a place nearby and I got some wonderful lasagna. We had to get gelato to finish the meal. I got my favorite again- stracciatella. It was one of the best I have had, for sure! We walked back to the residence and changed to lay out for the afternoon. Once the time was right, a few of us went back to the city overlook to watch the sunset. This time we got the delicious gelato before hand and enjoyed it while we enjoyed the sunset. We walked around more Sunday night trying to explore more of Verona. It is really nice here and we all love it. There is so much character and while its not a popular town there is still plenty to see! Sunday night I got back to skype with the family- which was great! I am having a wonderful time seeing new things and meeting this people in the group, but home is home and I do miss it. Plus I have to say that my family is amazing and it'll be nice to see them again!

Monday and Tuesday were spent in class and laying out on the porch. We got groceries and walked around Verona to get pizza and gelato- trying to become locals, you know! Wednesday though, we got to go to Lake Garda! I've been told not to miss Lake Garda and now I understand why! Its not Lake Como- where George Cloney has his house- but Garda is closer to Verona and just as gorgeous! Most everyone went from the group. The bus ride was about 45 minutes. We were dropped off in a town called Malcesine. We just spent the afternoon walking around and taking in the scenery. Lake Garde is huge- its 32 miles long and at the widest 11 miles across. At its deepest point its deeper than the Adriatic Sea. The ferry across took too long for the few hours we had but I sure its a gorgeous ride.

So thats been my life in Italy up until now. Today, Thursday, 4 of us are leaving for the most popular beach town in Italy- Rimini. All that is in Rimini is beaches and Discotechas. Apprently it has the best Discotecha in Italy. We're obviously not going at peak season, where I read that you can't find a spot on the beach, but we're okay with that. We want a relaxing weekend on the beach. Rimini is about 2 hours south of Venice. Since Rimini is so close to Verona- we have more time in Rimini but its also less stressful. Plus, Rimini is close to other well known Italian towns like Bologna, so we're planning on seeing those too. I'm really excited about this trip! I can't believe its the last weekened before we leave for Florence and Rome! This whole trip has really flown by! I'm soaking up these last 2 weeks in Italy though- I don't know when I'll be back! If you want to, pray for our trip this weekend! Pray that the weather is as gorgeous as it has been in Verona and pray that the four of us have a great, relaxing, fun weekend! Also pray for safety!

I hope you enjoyed this long blog and the pictures!! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! And thanks for reading my blog and being interested in my life. That alone has showed me how blessed I am! Have a wonderful weekend!!

With all my (Italian) Love,

Rebes

Rebecca Does Germany

Okay, I finally made time to update you on my weekend in Munich! :)

This trip was a UGA program trip so everyone got to go. We loaded the bus around 9:30 Thursday morning- April 2nd. It was so nice to have the trip planned and to be able to just hop on a bus and relax. The bus ride took about 6.5 hours. We only stopped twice but once was at a McDonalds a hour outside of Munich. It was definitely the nicest McDonald's I have ever been to. A lot of business men were there eatting in their suits. And they had delicious waffle fries. I pretended I was eatting them in Chick-fil-A, but there was no sweet tea to complete that dream. Anyways, the ride was beautiful. I loved being able to see more of Italy's and Austria's countrysides. When we got into Munich, we went straight to our hotel. This was another plus to this trip- being able to stay in a nice hotel. No worries of lockers or smelly boys- just comfortable beds and clean private bathrooms. Couldn't ask for more. We got settled and then met Martin, our program director, in the lobby to take us into town. The subway system was really easy to navigate and it took us straight to Marienplatz- a popular square in Munich. Martin gave us a brief explaination of the area and then we headed to the most popular beer house in Munich- the Hofbräuhaus. Hitler actually used that area to speak. I'm obviously not a beer woman but it was cool to hangout there and get a pretzel. We all hung out there for a while and then wondered out to find another beer house to eat dinner. I had some delicious sausages and potato salad. After dinner we just rode the subway home and rested up for our first full day in Munich.

Friday morning we had breakfast in the hotel (another amazing plus) at 8am. The breakfast was really good and filling. This trip included a tour of the city with a tour guide so we all met in the lobby at 9:30 for that. This tour guide was great and showed us a lot of cool things that I know I wouldn't have seen had we gone on our own. First we went to the site of the famous Oktoberfest- the biggest beer festival in the world. It was hard to imagine over a million people in one area but it happens every year for a few weeks. From there we went into a building where the people involved in the White Rose movement were tried and convicted. I didn't know anything about this movement until I went to Munich. It was a small group of mostly young students at the University of Munich. It was a non-violent resistance movement that were well known for a leaflet campaign. I really encourage you to read about it- these people were incredible. Later on Friday we stopped at the University and saw the plaque of leaflets on the ground outside the building. But after we saw were they we all convicted, we rode to see Hilter's office in Munich. We saw the famous balcony that he made a lot of speeches from. The building is now a music conservatory. It was kind of weird to be where Hitler was- and to take pictures of such a well known balcony that held one of the most corrupt people. From there we went to the Nymphenburg Palace. It used to be a summer house for the rulers of the Bavaria- the state Munich is in. This place was huge. The tour guide we had was great and told us the history of all the places we went to- and he did it with such enthusiasm. From there we drove to the BMW museum. We didn't spend much time there but from the museum we could see where the olympics were held- and where the dorms were- where the famous Munich olympic tragedy occured. That pretty much ended our tour but the tour guide walked some of us to an amazing restaurant. It was italian food but they cooked all of the sauces right infront of you- and the salads and pizzas too. It was absolutely delicious! That revived us for our bike tour that was that aftertoon. Almost everyone in the group went so it was a good time. We went with the famous Mike's Bike Tour and met Mike himself. The tours overlapped a bit but the bike tour allowed us to see more inside the city. We rode through the famous Englischer Gardens- that are bigger than Central Park in New York. We also stopped at the 2nd biggest beer garden in the world. I got what I thought was plain apple juice, but it ended up being carbonated. I suffered through it but it was rough. From the beer garden we rode back to the bike shop. Most of us were pretty tired from the long day so we passed out in the hotel pretty early.

Saturday was a hard day. This day we went into Dachau Concentraion Camp. This was the first concentration camp built by Hilter and was originally used for prisioners. Obviously as the years went on it was used for mostly Jewish prisioners. We saw where they would have slept and the ovens in the back. It was so hard to imagine life in a place like that. There was a nice museum there and a movie that we all watched. It was educational but so depressing. Its heartbreaking to think that humans treat humans like that- and for no reason. It was a pretty heavy morning so when the bus dropped us off in town we just wanted to eat and debrief. We actually went back to that amazing italian place and then shopped from there. It rained for about 30 minutes which made shopping miserable. I have gotten so spoiled traveling during non-peak season that now when more tourists are around I get real irritated real fast. I did manage to get another pair of Converse All-Star Chuck Taylors though. They're gray high-tops. Overall I feel like I packed well for this trip, but my all-star sneakers were the one thing I wished I had brought, so I justified buying another pair. I'm really glad I got them though. After that we headed back to the hotel and watched a movie on my friend's laptop. We rallied enough energy to go out Saturday night and ended up in a club called NV. We didn't stay too long but it was fun! Plus I busted out the new sneaks so it was worth the trip out!

Sunday morning we woke up to get our last free, delicious breakfast before the bus ride back. The ride back was gorgeous as well. It was tempting to nap but I couldn't with the beautiful scenery around me. We got back into Verona around 4 or so. A few of us walked around Verona to get some exercise- it was a gorgeous, warm Sunday.

Munich was a great, stress-free trip. It was great to hang out and get to know everyone else in the group too. These people are great and I am enjoying learning more about them! Munich itself was a great town too. There was a lot that we missed but I hope to go back sometime!

Enjoy a few pictures!

mit all meiner Liebe (picked up a little German),

Rebecca Rose

Me on the bike- second bike tour!

The White Rose memorial at the University of Munich.

Me with my carbonated apple juice. Not the best.

Rebecca Does Cinque Terre and Pisa

I'm sorry for leaving you all on the edge of your seats waiting for my next post.

Like I mentioned before, this weekend (the 28th of March) was a bit different. We had class on Friday but it was cancelled on the following Monday. So, we left on Friday afternoon, right after class, and caught the train to Riomaggiore, Italy (picture to left). Riomaggiore is a small town in Italy and is one of the towns of Cinque Terre (translating to 5 towns). The total trip was about 6 hours so by the time we got into town it was late. We saw most of the town at night and made it to bed at a decent hour. Since each town in Cinque Terre is so small, the hike between them is a popular thing to do. There are different hiking trails but the one we hiked went to each town, ending in Monterosso. The hike was about 9 km, almost 6 miles, through the hilly terrain. Our first stop was Manarola. The hike there from Riomaggiore was only 20 minutes. It was a cute town. Oh by the way, I decided to get gelato in each town so I'll tell you about the flavors too. In Manarola, I got strawberry gelato. It was delicious. We started hiking at 9 in the morning because of a threat of rain so it made sense to get a fruitty gelato flavor, kind of as an extention to breakfast. Anyways, after taking many pictures we headed to the next town. The next town was Corniglia. The hike there was a little further- maybe a hour or so. Corniglia is the oldest of the 5 towns but was just as pretty. There I got stracciatella gelato. This flavor is similar to cookies and cream but much better. The path from Corniglia to the next town, Vernazza, was closed because of a landslide. Two of the girls decided to hike it anyways, but the cautious ones took the 5 minute train to Vernazza. Apparently the path wasn't bad at all, so I should have hiked it. But, since I didn't I got to see part of Italian culture. When we got into Vernazza, a wedding had just ended in the church and were on a balcony throwing out candy to all those who were below. The newlyweds through out 12-15 large baskets full of candy and everyone below was scattering to grab some. It was really neat. We looked through the church and took many pictures and then decided to have lunch while we waited for the other two to get into town. We ate at a cute family resturant where I ordered a delicious serving of pasta with meat sauce (bolognese sauce). I saved room for gelato, though, and got a scoop of Cinque Terre Cream gelato. It was a local gelato, I had to try it. I think it was a hazelnut flavor base with chocolate and other flavors. It was pretty good though. Once we met up with the other 2 girls we hiked our last stretch to Monterosso. This was definitely the most strenuous part of the hike and it took almost 2 hours to get there. It was full of gorgeous views though. Once we got into Monterosso we walked around and did a little shopping. I got my gelato before dinner. Since I've been in Italy, I've been eatting a lot of oranges so I thought I would try orange gelato but that was a mistake. It was my least favorite gelato of the day for sure. Soon after we decided we were hungry, so we got some pizza. Right as we were eatting it started to rain. We were so thankful that it didn't rain a drop during our hike though. We went to the train station after that and got back to Riomaggiore. Once there we had to get our last serving of gelato! This time I got 2 scoops- one of hazelnut and one of chocolate, both of which were delicious. After those scoops, however, I felt pretty sick and pudgy. Almost a week and a half later, I have yet to have any gelato but this Easter weekend I will definitely indulge! That was Saturday though and once we got back to the hostel we were pretty tired. We all tried to study some for our finals the following week and then passed out.

We woke up Sunday to the rain. We had decided the night before that if it wasn't raining when we woke up then we would stay in town otherwise we would head to Pisa. We woke up a hour later than we thought too because Italy went through daylight savings. We finally ate and got on the train around 1 or so. The train ride to Pisa was only a hour or so and when we got there the rain had stopped. We easily found our way to the leaning tower from the train station. It was just like it looked in pictures. Because it is the off season for tourists they're working on the building, although they may always be working on the tower itself. It is expensive to go inside so we didn't walk in it. It started to rain while we were there so we walked around the other buildings until it stopped. We took as many pictures we could while it stopped. Once it started back up we decided to find dinner. We stopped in a place near the tower and I had very delicious lasagna. It was late when we finished so we decided to catch the train back to Riomaggiore. Since its off season, not much stays open late so we went to the hostel and hung out. This hostel was in a great location and was really clean. It was set up different from all of the other hostels but it still was extremely nice.

Monday morning we woke up early, got a big breakfast and headed back to Verona. Before we left on Friday I printed out the train timetable for the different trips back to Verona and our trip Monday was an adventure. We rode 4 trains and 3 buses and went through 4 different towns in Italy. The ride was interesting but it was also very pretty. Its great to take land transportation because you get to see so much more of the country. We got back into Verona at 5 or so and all had to study for our final the following day. The trip to Cinque Terre wasn't a beach trip like we wanted but it still was gorgeous and relaxing. Plus, we got to see the Leaning Tower! Enjoy the pictures!

With all my love,
Rebecca


My first gelato in Manarola.




Second gelato in Corniglia.


My third gelato- the 5 terre creme in Vernazza. (Thats my purse under my jacket, not my belly)

My fourth scoop in Monterosso.

My last 2 scoops in Riomaggiore!

spiacente!

Hey everyone! I leave in about 30 minutes for Munich but I just wanted to appologize for not blogging before I left! I just got back from Cinque Terre (picture on the left) and Pisa(picture below) on Monday. Then I had two finals- one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. I haven't had much time to blog but will take care of it when I return from Germany!

Things are going well though and its hard to believe I only have a month left! I hope all is well in the states! Miss you all! Have a wonderful weekend!

Oh, and if you feel lead- pray for the trip to Munich! Its a UGA trip so the entire group is going. It's so nice because we're staying in a hotel, which has already been booked, and we're riding in a bus so no stress of traveling! It should be a great weekend and it'll be fun to hang out with the whole group! Thanks guys, you're awesome!

With all my Italian love,

Rebes

I've Reached the Half Mile Mark

After my long weekend in Amsterdam, I have spent this week resting and getting well. Monday was spent in class, doing laundry and working out. I also made it to the grocery store. This week we went to a different store, called Pam, that we were hoping would be nicer with more selections. Unfortuantely, it didn't have that many different things but it was more expensive. I still got quite a bit for a small amount of money. We also got gelato on our way home. I must say that I am starting to like gelato too much and may become addicted if I don't slow down. Its just so good and creamy. Tuesday I took a long nap and went to jazzercise that night. Yes, they have jazzercise in the gym at the hotel and it was a lot of fun. To paint a picture for you, the instructor of the class was an Italian version of Martin Short's character Franck in Father of the Bride. He was hysterical and my friend Tricia and I were laughing the entire time. The class was just like the classes I have taken in Athens which that shows you how universal Jazzercise is! Wednesday was a special day because after class the whole group took a trip to a local winery. The town was only 30 minutes outside of Verona. It was really neat to see where they make the wine and learn about the company. They make 300 million bottles of wine which is only distributed in Italy. They said they don't have any in America because they couldn't keep up with the demand. Out of the 300 million, only 5% of those have their labels on them, which is Rocca Sveva. That night we watched a movie on a girl's laptop and I went to bed pretty early. Yesterday, Thursday, Tricia and I went into town to go to the Euro Store- which is just like the dollar store. They have a few of them downtown and the stuff there is pretty legit. I just got q-tips and playing cards this time though. We also made time for gelato! Thursday night we had a study session for one of our classes. So a few of us were in the same room for about 7 hours yesterday- it was incredibly hard to concentrate!
This week was a bit different in that we had class on Friday. Next week the whole group is going on a trip to Munich, Germany. We are leaving Thursday morning of next week so we had to add an extra class this week. It sounds awful but its was hard on my brain to go to class five days this week- I've already gotten used to a 4-day week! Initially we only had a 2 day weekend but both of our classes were cancelled on Monday, so we kept our 3 day weekend, yay! This afternoon we are leaving for Cinque Terre in Italy. Its on the west coast of Italy and is one of the country's most popular beach scenes. Cinque Terre translates to 5 lands, which exaclty what it is. It is 5 towns in one area- most of them built within the hills. There isn't much to do in Cinque Terre except hike to each town, eat gelato and enjoy the view. We were all really excited about a relaxing weekend but its forecasted to rain the entire time we are there! Pray against it so we can enjoy the beautiful town! If it does rain like it is supposed to, we have planned day trips in towns around the area which should still be fun.

I hope all is well in your life! Email me and let me know how thing are going! Miss you all! Have a wonderful weekend!

With all my love,

Rebecca Rose

Rebecca Does The Netherlands

Our trip began with another train ride to Milan train station and a bus ride to the Milan airport. A few hours later we are on our KLM flight to Amsterdam. This trip was small, just three girls, which was a nice change of pace. We didn't leave Italy until about 9:30, arriving into Amsterdam at 11:15. Our directions to the hostel were pretty vague again, but we found it pretty quickly once we were in the area. We stayed in the Trianon Hotel- don't be confused by the word hotel, it was nothing close to a hotel and was the worst hostel we have stayed in so far. Tricia found out that Girltalk, an American DJ, was playing in Amsterdam Thursday night and wanted to try to make his show that night. Once we checked in we asked the guy at the front desk to circle on the map where the club was and where we were. He knew where the club was, but he didn't know where we were- how does that even work? Anyways, we ran to find our room but had to go up about 6 flights of narrow stairs to our 8 "mixed" bed room. We were laughing hysterically at the stairs when we got into our room at 12:15 and woke up a guy that was sleeping there. Great- our first trip to share a room with someone. We really just wanted to lock up our stuff and leave for the concert, but there were no lockers to lock up our things. Great- our first hostel to share a room with strangers and no lockers for our stuff. We kept everything of value on us, locked our bags with our luggage locks and left the hostel. After about 15 minutes of walking up and down streets we finally found Paradiso- the club where Girltalk was playing. There was a long line outside of the club which was a good sign that he hadn't gone on yet. We waited in line for around 45 minutes and met some American guys from St. Louis area. We finally got in the club and was surprised to see it wasn't packed. Whe Girltalk came out at 2:45 though, it was crowded. It was really cool to see him live and see him in Amsterdam. We were pretty tired from class and traveling so we left the concert at 4- but I know he didn't stop playing until like 5 or 6. When we got back to our hostel, we walked back up to our room. Not only was it extremely hot and stinky, but it was full of 4 more sleeping guys. Awkward. We woke a few of them up getting our stuff on our bed. The first night was spent sleeping in our nasty clothes, on top of our sheets with our luggage attached to atleast one limb. To state the obvious, we didn't get much sleep the first night in Amsterdam.

Friday morning the guys started getting up around 8am and started waking us up around that time too. We met them and found out they were from Denmark and were just in the city for the weekend. We slept after they left until about 10 or 10:30 and then started to get ready. I woke up with a sore throat though and Lauren woke up with a massive headache. Both outcomes of our lack of sleep. The bathroom was actually in our room, which was nice. But, since we were in the room with boys, it was pretty dirty. We all showered as fast as possible and got out of the room at 11:45. Near Paradiso we noticed a bagel place so we went there for our late breakfast. We walked around a bit after that and signed up for a 5:00 boat cruise. In the mean time we decided to walk to the Verzetsmuseum aka the Dutch Resistance Museum. It was amazing to learn about what the Dutch did in the Resistance movement during World War II. The museum was really nice and had a lot of cool things. Unfortuantely in the museum I started to get a fever. I'm still not exactly sure what brought it on, but I think my body was just exhausted from all the traveling, especially the concert night before. Once we walked back to the hostel to get warmer clothes for the boat ride, I was feeling better but I took some medicine to make sure. We took the boat ride with a non-profit group that is restoring old boats and was donation based. We were hoping the man guiding the boat would tell us more about the town, but he really just rode us through town and the red-light district. There were students our age on the boat from New Jersey and were studying in Barcelona. Once we were off the boat, the three of us were all starving. We read about a Pancake bakery near Anne Frank's House so we headed straight there. The pancakes were delicious and once I warmed up and ate dinner I started to feel much better. From dinner we walked to the Anne Frank House. Besides the concert, the Annex was my favorite part of the trip. When I read her diary and learned about her family in school I never thought that I would actually see it. On the walls in each room were quotes from her diary and they were so powerful. When I was walking through the rooms and seeing where they hid, it was hard to imagine their lives. Anne was an amazing young girl and her simple words lead us to another level of understanding. If you get the chance, please go to Anne Frank's House- you won't regret it. After we each tried to digest everything we had seen, we started our walk back to the hostel. We were all exhausted and got into bed when we got back. The guys weren't there but they woke us up coming in at 4:30 that morning.

Saturday I woke up feeling much better, which was good because we had planned a busy day. The Denmark guys were still snoring when we got up and left at 9. I had read about Amsterdam's famous open-air market, Albert Cuyp and wanted to go. We got there around 9:45 and got some fresh orange juice and a waffle with powdered sugar- so good. At 11 we went to Mike's Bike Tour. They have two tours daily, a country side tour and a city tour. After my biking accident in August, I knew I could not handle the city tour. Everyone in Amsterdam rides their bike everywhere. It was hard enough walking around with all the bikes, much less riding with all of them. I tried to remember everything that I saw people do on their bikes. This is what I remember: talk on their cell phone, text, eat, smoke, hold flowers and the worst: hold a baby. This guy had a baby carrier on his body with at most a 6 month-old on his chest. One hand was on the handle and the other hand was on the baby. I couldn't belive it. Anyways, we collectively decided to take the country tour that would take us outside the city to see a cheese farm, clog factory and a windmill. We were all happy with the 4 hour bike ride to see the country side. Plus the guide was great at telling us the history of the city and of specific things that we passed. The cheese at the cheese farm was really good too. And I survived on the bike, no falls or crashes! After we finished the bike tour we were starving. We found a place near by and had some burgers. Once we were re-energized we walked to the Van Gogh museum. This season is the colours of night exhibition, including Starry Night, which was awesome. Van Gogh had a rough life but produced amazing pieces of art. I enjoyed seeing the actual pieces that I studied throughout middle and high school. After we spent a few hours there, we were ready for dessert. We got some shakes at another place near Paradiso and hung out there for a while, pro-longing our journey back to our stinky hostel. When we got up to our room, the guys were about to head out to party and asked if we wanted to join them. After our 10 mile ride we were done for the day and needed to rest up for our travels back to Italy. They made sure to wake us up at 5am again though- and snore really loud too.

Sunday morning, we got up as early as possible and out of that hostel. The ride back to the airport was only 20 minutes or so. Since I jumped on this trip late, my two friends bought their tickets a week or so before me. When I went to buy my ticket I couldn't get on their returning flight so they flew out at 9:40 and I hung out in the airport till 2:40. The Schiphol Airport is really nice in Amsterdam so I did a little shopping and then just hung out at my gate for awhile. The flight to Milan was smooth and once I got there I hopped on a bus to the train station. Tricia got to Milan that morning and met up with our friend Ginny who was with her sister in Milan for the day. Once I got to the train station, I caught the metro downtown to meet the 3 of them for dinner. I was pretty tired but dinner was delicious. Ginny, Tricia and I caught the 9:05 train back to Verona and got there at 10:45. Two people from our group were just getting back into town from Prague so we all rode the bus back to our hotel in Verona.

It was a fun, interesting and exhausting trip to Amsterdam but I had a great time. The town is beautiful and has a different feel than the other cities we have been to. And even though the hostel experience was pretty bad, it created more memories and funny stories.

More on my life in Italy to come!

With all my love,

R.R.Rector

Gorgeous view

Before the bike tour! Can you sense my nervousness?

At the cheese farm/clog factory!

I survived the bike tour!!

Me outside Van Gogh Museum!

Eat, Pray, Love

This week we started new classes. I'm taking two classes so I'm in class from 8am to 2pm, which isn't the most fun. The first class is Comparative Political Economy, which is actually pretty interesting so far. Its nice to be learning about our economy and why it is the way that it is right now. Plus our professor, who teaches at UGA, is really smart and great at explaining concepts. I think I'm going to get a lot out of his class. My second class is Contemporary Issues in Global Politics. Our professor is also very intelligent, he is fluent in about 8 languages, but he also has a thick Slovenian accent so its really hard to understand him sometimes. The information is hard to follow too because of his teaching methods, but I hope to learn more next week.

Monday after class I went to the grocery store and caught up on things from the weekend. Tuesday after class, a group of us went downtown and saw the Capitular Library of Verona (Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona). It is considered one of the oldest libraries in Europe and has books in it that are older than our country. They told us all about how the monks would hand write these books on sheep skin in Verona and how long it would take them to write. The pages were so detailed and the writing was virtually perfect. Its cool that Verona has stuff like this and that we get to see it. Tuesday night 9 girls had a pot-luck dinner of pasta, chicken and salad. It was delicious and we went out to celebrate St. Patty's day that night. Wednesday I took a long nap and went to a kick-boxing class in the gym downstairs. I've never taken that class but it was fun!

Not the most exciting week, but today I leave for Amsterdam! There are only 3 of us on this trip which will be different. It'll be nice because our usual group is spliting up but we'll all come back with lots of stories! Pray for safety again, please!!

I've already been in Europe for 4 weeks and I can't believe it! I was thinking about the book Eat, Pray, Love today and how it was such a fun read. Then I got to thinking about the title and realized that I want the rest of my time here to be about those 3 words. I want to eat European food and enjoy every bite... I want to pray for Italy, the Italians, Verona and my group of students... and I want to love- love Europe, love Italy, love the Italians, and love my classmates. So, pray that I won't get wrapped up in silly things like school (although it is important, I know) but that I can be 100% here in Europe and that I can be used while I am here.

Thanks for all of your love and support!
With all my love,

Rebecca Rose

PS I'm working on making a photo album site for you to see all my pictures! Hope to get to that next week!!

Rebecca Does Spain

Well now that I have been to Spain, I already can't wait to go back! Barcelona was an incredible time but there is so much to do and see there that I need to go back to see the rest!

The trip started off with a lot of laughs- which was a great sign. To fly out of Milan, we have to take a train from Verona to Milan and then take a hour long bus ride from the train station to the airport. We were flying EasyJet and they stop checking people in 45 minutes before the flight. With all this traveling we weren't exactly sure how much time to allow so we left with plenty buffer time. The train ride was fine and it only took a few minutes to find the airport bus stop. The bus ride was fine as well and got us to the airport with plenty of time. Check in only took a second and airport security over here is a joke compared to the US. We didn't have to take off our shoes or anything. Once we finished with all of that we had to sit around the airport for a little bit but it wasn't that bad. While we were in line to board the plane we met some guys from California that were studying in Turin, Italy. Two of them were actually from the San Francisco bay area so I got to talk to them about my summer in Concord which was neat. The flight to Barcelona was smooth and quick- only about a hour and 20 minutes. From the airport in Barcelona we took a train to the metro station and then the metro to our hostel. This hostel was a bit better than the one in Salzburg, but still couldn't compare to the one in Nice. There were, however, students from Notre Dame at the hostel and they knew the two people from Notre Dame that I had met in the train on the way back from Nice, which was pretty cool. We didn't get to the hostel until 11pm but we were all starving so we grabbed a pizza after checking in. It wasn't the cleanest restaurant but the pizza was decent and we had a lot of laughs.

Friday morning we didn't wake up too early- just early enough to grab breakfast at the hostel. From there we walked down towards the water and got on a bus tour. It was a double-decker bus that drove you around the main stops but you could get on and off the bus whenever you wanted to. It was a great way to see a lot in one day. The first place we got off was the Temple Sagrada Familia. Construction for this church began in 1882 and it is yet to be finished. It started in 1882 with another architect but was handed over to Antoni Gaudi in 1883. For over 40 years he spent his life working and designing this church. I was told that the adjective "gaudy" was after Gaudi's works. From the outside, this church has a lot going on and some would think it was gaudy. I initally thought it was a bit too much but once we went inside and I learned more about Gaudi and the design, I was absolutely amazed by his work. Gaudi was mostly inspired by nature- including trees. For those who don't know, I love trees. There are many reasons why and to see that included as a theme in a church was really cool. The columns in the inside were designed after trees and the exterior has a lot of nature influence as well, including animals. Everything that has been done, and will be done, has a purpose and its amazing how much time was put into the design and the actual construction. I think they predict another 40-50 years of construction too which is so hard to believe. I really hope to make it back and see it completed. If you have time, Google this church and read about Gaudi and his work. The website will also have a lot more pictures. (http://www.sagradafamilia.org/) After we visited the church, we ate at a cafe close by... I had a spanish omelette sandwich that was pretty good. After lunch we got back on the bus and rode to the Park Guell- a park designed by Gaudi. We walked around and hung out there for a little while. The sun was starting to set and it was a great view of the city. (Picture above of me is from the park) After the park, we hopped back on the tour bus and rode the rest of the route. One of the girls lost her ticket though, so we had to get off the bus alittle earlier than planned. It wouldn't have been a problem but once the sun went down, the temperature went with it. We finally figured out which way to walk to get back to the hostel but half way there we got hungry and stopped for food. It was the perfect place for dinner- I got Catalan sausage and beans and it was delicious. That was something that surprised me about Barcelona- they mostly speak Catalan and not Spanish. I know a lot of people speak both but I was expecting to understand a lot of the conversations around me and I couldn't. The languages are very similar but I have never studied Catalan. I got to use a bit of my Spanish knowledge but not as much as I had planned. Anyways, after dinner we finished the walk back to the hostel. We rested and got ready to go out. One of the girls, Emily, who came with us had friends from UGA in Barcelona for Spring Break. One of the UGA girls had studied in Spain over the summer and was more familiar with the culture and area which was convenient. She informed us that people don't start going out in Barcelona until 2am. So, we got ready and waited until about 1:45 to leave the hostel. We didn't go with the UGA girls who had been to Barcelona before, which was a mistake, and we ended up not even making it anywhere specific. So, we got back at 3:45 and hoped for a more successful Saturday night.

Saturday we slept in, which was nice. We actually missed breakfast but it worked out much better that way. A popular street in Barcelona is Las Ramblas and although its pretty sketchy at night, its pretty cool during the day. Its lined with street vendors, artists and performers. Also off of Las Ramblas is the market. It was absolutely incredible all of the food that was there. We got fresh fruit smoothies and fruit boats for breakfast- both of which were super cheap, fresh and delicious. I actually had two smoothies- a strawberry and I got brave and tried a cactus flower smoothie. It was pretty good! We walked all around the market and saw loads of seafood and meat. The produce looked incredible- so did the cheese, chocolate and bread (all of which I bought...). We did end up buying our lunch there to eat later. I got some amazing pasta, probably the best I've ever had and I don't even know what all was on it, and I got some pastries that were full of cream. They too were delicious! From the market we took a leisurely stroll through town to see the St. Maria church. We sat outisde of it, in the sun, for about a hour and just chilled. From there we walked to the beach. Thats where I ate my delicious lunch and took a nap. It was warm but not warm enough for a bathing suit so I just rolled up the jeans and layed on my jacket. It was pretty crowded there but we had a nice area and goregous view. We stayed at the beach for a good 3 hours which didn't allow time for the Picasso museum. (Something I'll have to come back and do ;) After my delicious pasta, I wanted to go back to the market for dinner. Other girls felt the same so we made our back to Las Ramblas and did some shopping on the way. By the time we actually got to the market, the pasta place had closed but we still loaded up on good cheese, bread and fruit. It was a light dinner but thats all we needed after a heavy lunch. Okay, so this is when things got interesting. Since our going out plans on Friday night was a bust, we wanted to make sure that Saturday night was a lot of fun. Here is Europe, Discoteca Clubs are big and I knew thats where I could get my dance on. The UGA girl that had been to Barcelona had been to a club called Razzmatazz that had 5 huge rooms, holdinga few thousand people each, with different DJs in each room. Since the club didn't open till 2am we decided to sleep from 8pm-12am, get up and get ready and then go to Razz at 2. So, thats what we did. It seems pretty crazy but it worked out really well. I slept like a rock for those 4 hours and felt really awake when we left the hostel at 2. It took about 30 minutes to get there, so we didn't get in the club until about 3am. The cover charge was a lot just to go dancing, but for me it was totally worth it! 4 of us stayed together on the dance floor and had a really fun time. We were ready to leave at 5, even though it stayed open till 7am. We got another hour and a half of sleep before we were up at 7:30 to eat breakfast and get to the airport. It was pretty crazy for me, but I am really glad we went. It was a lot of fun to dance to Kings of Leon in Spain- and its something I won't forget! Our travels back to Verona were fine, even though most of us were pretty tired.

All in all, I had a great time in Barcelona! No one in our group of 6 had anything stolen which is great news! And I really do look forward to returning to Spain though- and not only going to Barcelona but making it to Madrid and maybe Sevilla and Valencia.

Thanks for all of your continued thoughts and prayers! I really appreciate them! Hope all is well in the states! Miss you!

Con todo mi amor,

Senorita Rector

Temple de la Sagrada Familia- the Passion Side

Me with my Cactus Flower fruit smoothie!

The beach and city view!

Time flies when you're having Fun!

This marks 3 weeks in Italy/Europe!

Not much has happened this week. We didn't have class again on Monday but a few girls got up and walked around Verona. I finally got to see Juliet's balcony which was cool. I think that means I'll find my husband soon... but who knows!? Anyways, after the balcony we looked in some cool shops and then walked to the grocery store. Things are pretty cheap here so I get a lot for my money. Their candy is pretty good here though so I got some chocolate candy bars and nutella. For those who don't know, nutella is a chocolate-hazelnut spread that is great with bread or just plain on a spoon. Once we dropped groceries off and ate lunch, 5 of us hiked up a big hill to a Catholic Church. It was a gorgeous day and a great walk through another part of town. The view from the church was amazing. And there was a statue of Mary behind the church that apparently was in a church on that hill during World War II. The church was bombed by the Germans but the statue of Mary wasn't damaged. After we walked back down we stopped in a few more local stores but it got chilly pretty fast so we hoped on a bus back to the residence. The rest of Monday night was spent resting and catching up on school work.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent reviewing and studying for our final. Our professor gave half of the final Wednesday afternoon and the essay portion this morning (Thursday). I think they both went fairly well. We were only in class for 10 days total but it was quite a bit of information. Its hard to believe that I'm already done with the first class. Two new classes start on Monday, which means I'm in class from 8-1:45 Monday-Thursday. I know this first class spoiled us so I'm not really excited about these next two classes. I'm sure they'll be interesting though!

Nothing else really happened this week, but there are still small things that I'm adjusting to that I didn't think about...

-Peanut butter. They don't sell peanut butter in the Italian grocery stores! I like peanut butter but I've never been a fanatic or anything. When we were in France some girls bought Skippy peanut butter for like 4 euro (over 5 american dollars for a minature jar). I didn't want it that bad but in a grocery store in Salzburg it was only 2 euro, so I got a jar. Now that I have it, though, I have to use it sparingly.

-Computer paper. I assumed that all paper was 8.5 x 11 but it isn't in Italy. I'm actually not sure of the exact dimensions but when I printed off my assignments for class, it came out looking pretty funny.

-No oven. We have a stove in our apartment, but no oven. I didn't think it would be much of a problem, but I've been craving cupcakes and I can't make any. Its just weird not having that function in the kitchen.

Well, its time to pack the bag and head out. This weekend we're going to Barcelona, Spain! This is the city that I have been the most excited about! Apparently its high for pocket-pickers so pray against that and pray for safety. We're training to Milan and flying from Milan to Barcelona. I am really excited though- it should be a great weekend with warm weather (mid 60s)!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend- enjoy more pictures of Verona!

With all my love,

Miss Rector

Me and Juliet's Balcony!

A gorgeous day in Verona