2/24/08

Today was our last day in Switzerland, so we tried to ski for as long as possible. Midway through the day we got to sit and watch Jess run off a mountain to paraglide, and she swooped right over our heads. Lauren and I fell off a ski lift because John fell off and they had to stop it which jerked us off, and we got stuck in a place where there were no easy slopes down! John let the lift drag him up further, while me and Lauren opted to try out the red slope. It was scary but really fun and I finally remembered how to ski! A few runs later, however, I forgot again and got my skis stuck in a mountain and had to lie there for 20 minutes waiting to be rescued. No one came to rescue me, so I had to pick all the snow out of every little crevice of my skis in order to put them back on, and then go straight back down the mountain. At the bottom, I was expecting everyone to be waiting, but we'd all accidentally split up! Alone on Murren in the Alps, I proceeded to take a lift in order to try to see Ethan's orange jacket, Lauren's pink pants, Tom's awkward pole movements, Sam's indistinctive black ski suit, or John upside down somewhere with his snowboard in the air. Jess was in the air still, so that was hopeless. I took a gondola down and after wandering around for a while ran into Ethan. I ran towards him and jumped on him and hugged him and almost cried, and he informed me that he had no idea that we were all split up. We waited at the bottom of the mountain and luckily everyone came down in the next gondola ride! It was getting late and it was time to go back and shower, eat, and get on another train. 

On the second of the three trains we needed to take, we were informed that the guy at Termini who booked our tickets made a mistake and put them for the wrong day. The Swiss man on the train was very nice and we just had to pay 8 franc to change it over, but when we got to our connection, we found out that the train we were planning on taking didn't run on Sundays. This was a big uh oh, but we got on a train to Rome an hour later. The only problem was that the 11pm-7am train ride was not in a sleeper car. It was probably the most uncomfortable night of my life, but kind of cute to see us all snuggled up trying to sleep. As Sam noted, "People always say that they are packed in like sardines, but....that's really what this is." John and Ethan saved us from a robber by giving him angry looks, and I buckled everyone's backpacks to a pole. It was a team effort, but we didn't get mugged! We arrived in Rome and had to go to class. Let's just say it was the worst day yet. Maybe even ever. For the unbelievable weekend we had though, it was so worth it.

2/23/08

Today we woke up bright and early, (but an hour darker and later than we wanted to), got breakfast at the hostel, and schlepped up the mountain for an hour and a half just to schlepp further up the mountain to the slopes. Our first stop was the bunny hill, where our Ethan (who is actually a ski instructor) gave us all the same lesson he gives "4 year old kids and fat men from Texas who have never seen snow." After his entire day of hiking up unmarked trails and skiing straight down black diamonds without so much as a stumble, Ethan fell down the bunny hill. Yikes. 

Now, I was under the impression that I could ski, but apparently I was very, very wrong. I was so nervous that I would fall and break my leg and not be able to get on the busses in Rome that I was all shaky and horrible and could barely stay on my feet. I took a couple of bad falls and got a giant bruise that is really awesome/disgusting. After a full day of skiing, we schlepped back and did the shower race before going downstairs to the club. Now apparently, this was the hottest club in Switzerland, but frankly, we found it lame and sucky. We all stuck together and had a nice time though, and John and I got to enjoy our free beer vouchers that we got for skydiving. The Swiss men were pretty creepy. They kept saying "Yaaaaahhh" and sounded like Fat Bastard. 

2/22/08

This morning we checked into our hostel straight off the night train at 6 in the morning. We stayed at Balmers in the private guest house and it was amazing! They really took care of us and the beds and pillows were ridiculously comfy. We woke up too late to hit the slopes, but Ethan couldn't wait and so he did all of the ridiculous black diamonds and unmarked paths in lieu of sleeping a couple extra hours. As we were sitting at lunch eating insanely expensive Swiss food (hash browns), and paying 30 francs for water, John suddenly announces, "I'm going skydiving in an hour, who wants to come?" I pondered for a few minutes, considered throwing up, and then said "I will." An hour later and a whole bunch of will requests later, John and I were on a bus on the way to go jump out of a plane. We got there and had a "lesson" which was literally three minutes and basically the only instructions were "don't throw up on your tandem partner." Then we got into our blue astronaut suits and harnesses and waited for our plane. When I saw it in the air on its way down and realized that it was so high up that I couldn't make out wings, I started to get a lot of nervous. Three minutes later John and I, our tandem partners, a hot Swiss photographer and two pilots were on our way up into the sky, 13,000 feet up (putting us at about 15,000 feet above sea level.) I thought we were about ready when we could see the tops of all the Alps and France and Italy, and just then my tandem Roland said, "Halfway up!" While this was true, some of the other things he said to me were just to mess with me. For example: "Oh no! Did you forget to grab goggles!", "I'm nervous, are you?", "You know one person a day dies doing this with me and I haven't lost anyone yet today." "All of your carabeeners are broken! I'll have to just tie onto the bottom." I was shaking in my Ugg boots the rest of the way up (yes, I wore them) and then the door of the plane swung open and I was leaning over the ledge with my feet dangling over the ground far below. Suddenly a wave of calm rushed over my entire body and all fear that I had turned into this amazing feeling like I could do anything. I leaned my head all the way forward because I forgot everything I learned in the 3 minute class, and Roland had to pull it back so that I wouldn't break my neck jumping. And then I was in the air. It was almost an entire minute of free-fall, over 8000 feet of breathtaking views of the Alps and every surrounding country. I couldn't get a single breath but it was ok, I wasn't even thinking about it. After the minute that felt like about 10 days, (in a good way,) my parachute released and everything slowed to a halt. I was 5000 feet in the air and swooping around the cascading mountains surrounding the valley where I would soon land. After a few minutes in the air, the ground grew nearer and I yelled to Roland "Do we have to go down now!?" He responded, "...There's really no other direction to go." We made a fast descent to the ground and I landed on my butt in a pile of mud (don't worry, I was supposed to.) A minute later John landed and we spent a few minutes jumping up and down screaming. (I think I said I love you to Roland.) We made it back to Balmers about an hour later and saw the rest of the gang who ran screaming and embraced us shouting "You're alive!" 

We were in and out the door in about a half hour and on the way to night sledding. We took a gondola up through the pitch black mountain which was possibly scarier than skydiving. Then we got our lesson which consisted of a man named Ronnie with a ridiculous Swiss accent handing us a sled and a glow stick and saying "Eef you vant to be turnik right put yourright fut on seh ground. Eef you vant turnink lefft put your lefft fut on zeh grownd. Eef you vant to stop then puttink bof feet on zeh grownd. Eef you see a black tink movink closeh to you, you should break because dat ees eizer a tree of a cleef. Okay, vee go!" ....And....down the mountain we went. It was a narrow path about 12 feet wide with a cliff on one side and a rock formation on the other, and it was about an hour of horror down to the restaurant. After we arrived safely, we were served a very authentic Swiss meal of cheese fondue and hash browns and eggs. (They love hash browns and have them at every meal.) Dinner was fabulous but way not enough food because I am an over-eating American. Before we left we made sure to get one more good look at the unbelievable stars. There were more than I have ever seen in my life, and the view of the Alps with the sky lit up in stars was breathtaking. We contemplated checking out the bar on our way home, but once we saw our beds we were in for good (even though it was only about 10). Then the 7 of us went about all sharing one bathroom the only way you can... to just run for it and see who can get in first. This method worked out just fine. Slipping into our picnic table print beds after the long day was amazing, and I had skydiving dreams all night!

2/21/08

After a long day of lugging a backpack around on the crowded metro and a field trip, the seven of us (Jess, Lauren, Ethan, Tom, John, Sam, and I) left on the night train to Interlaken, Switzerland. As soon as we started ascending the mountains the pressure got crazy and there was an ear-popping fiasco like nothing I've ever felt before. We made it through without any broken ear drums or broken bones (even though John almost fell off his bed and crushed me in the middle of the night.) The seven of us all slept in tiny beds lining the walls of a 6 person sleeper car. It was actually pretty fun, and a testament to our friendships that no one ended up out the window. 

2/18/08

Today was a pretty exciting day because Lauren, Sam, John, Jess, Tom, Ethan, and I booked our trip to Interlaken for this weekend. We're taking an overnight train on thursday that leaves straight from class and gets there at 6 in the morning. Then we have the guest house at Balmers booked so it's a 7 person private apartment with a big kitchen and everything. The overnight train back on Sunday will not be fun, and we have to go straight to class from it, but we'll just have to deal and nap later. Can't wait!

2/16/08

Tonight was girls and boys night, so Jess, Lauren and I went next door to MoMart for dinner, martinis, and boy shopping. (MoMart is where all the ridiculously good looking Italian men hang out.) We had a fun and short night of doing almost nothing at our apartment which culminated in a slumber party. It was an early night, which we were all thankful for. 

2/15/08

After a fantastically long afternoon nap, Lauren, Tom, and I went over to Jon and Sam's, and they cooked us a delicious linguini carbonara and chicken marsala. Jess came over after she was done with her obligatory dinner with the roomies, and we had a mini dance party. Afterwards we made our way over to Campo De'Fiori and hung out outside a bar for a while with some other English speakers. 

2/14/08

Tonight we started out with dinner at Scholars. They had "American Food," which I was craving slightly, so I ordered a burger and cheese fries. Apparently they think that means a piece of chicken on bread with tomatoes and fries sprinkled with mozzarella, and I learned my lesson. Afterwards, we went to a jazz lounge and Tom, who is a drummer, got up and played with the band for a few songs. He was great, of course, and was asked to come back and play a few times a week so hopefully this will be a regular thing. 

2/13/08

Tonight we headed out to Trastevre again to have a hommade dinner at Tom's, but of course we got very very lost again. Trastevre is hard to get to and even harder to navigate once you are there since it is made up of tiny cobblestone alleyways and every single building is the same color of yellow-orange. Eventually we made it and had a delicious pasta primivera and then went to the bar downstairs. After a while we headed out to Scholars since the girls were promised dancing and we were decked out in sequins. It was a long night of Britney Spears and Dr. Dre and we all fell asleep immediately upon our return to Piazza Bologna.

2/12/08

Today was a good day to relax a little and take a night off from going out. In the morning I had Italian class and then went to lunch with Stephie (or as we call her in Italy, Stepho.) Afterwards we had to get our permisso to stay, which was long and boring. Lauren then cooked a fabulous Italian meal for me and I made her her first artichokes and bernaise sauce. Then the four roommates sat on the stairs in front of a neighboring apartment building secretly stealing internet so we could put pictures up. Our evil plan worked!

2/11/08

Today we started our first day of intensive Italian classes. We're all beginners so it's right at my level, and the class is really fun. It's two and a half hours a day for this week, and then two hours three days a week for the rest of the semester. After class and a long lunch John, Sam, Lauren, Tom, Ethan and I went over to Tom's place in Trastevre and he cooked a mean penne florentine for all of us. Jess came over after she finished dinner with her Italian roommate, and we all overdid it a bit on the vino. It was a fantastic time.

2/10/08

This afternoon, Lauren, Tom, Jess, John, Sam, Ethan and I went to the Colesium. It was one of my favorite sights so far, obviously. We didn't go in side because it's expensive and we can go for free later with school. Instead we got a few litres of Moretti and sat on a ledge near the arch of Constantine. It was a beautiful view and a bunch of Japanese tourists took pictures of us sitting there. We stayed there for most of the evening and then went across the street to have wine at a cafe. Afterwards we went home and went to bed early for the very first time.

2/9/08

Today Lauren and I slept in until an embarrassingly late time, and then headed over to a park about a mile away to walk and run around. I realized I forgot my running shoes, so I had to power walk in Uggs… It was quite a site. The weather was perfect today, probably about mid-sixties and bright and sunny. Afterwards we walked over to Sam and Johns, and enjoyed some wine and Caprise salad. Tom trekked all the way from Trastevre to Bologna to meet up with us for dinner, and we ate at a small place across from our apartment. We started to discuss plans to visit Switzerland, and although Tom doesn’t ski, he is going to join us because he has what he calls FOMO. (Fear of missing out.) We all have been inflicted with this, so I think we will be traveling a lot together. Ethan is a ski instructor, so hopefully he will join us and give us all a much-needed refresher course on the Alps.
After dinner we went back to Trastevre (way across the city) and met up with Jess at a couple of bars there. Lauren, John, Sam, and started to head back around 2, and got very, very lost in the ancient city. Somehow we made it on foot from Trastevre, across the Tiber, and all the way to the Coliseum, but we were then stuck in a bunch of ruins with no cabs and no idea where we were. Luckily we found a night bus and hopped on and arrived back home at around 4. It was quite an adventure—getting lost here is very fun actually, and we’d know, it happens a lot.

2/9/08

Today Lauren and I slept in until an embarrassingly late time, and then headed over to a park about a mile away to walk and run around. I realized I forgot my running shoes, so I had to power walk in Uggs… It was quite a site. The weather was perfect today, probably about mid-sixties and bright and sunny. Afterwards we walked over to Sam and Johns, and enjoyed some wine and Caprise salad. Tom trekked all the way from Trastevre to Bologna to meet up with us for dinner, and we ate at a small place across from our apartment. We started to discuss plans to visit Switzerland, and although Tom doesn’t ski, he is going to join us because he has what he calls FOMO. (Fear of missing out.) We all have been inflicted with this, so I think we will be traveling a lot together. Ethan is a ski instructor, so hopefully he will join us and give us all a much-needed refresher course on the Alps.
After dinner we went back to Trastevre (way across the city) and met up with Jess at a couple of bars there. Lauren, John, Sam, and started to head back around 2, and got very, very lost in the ancient city. Somehow we made it on foot from Trastevre, across the Tiber, and all the way to the Coliseum, but we were then stuck in a bunch of ruins with no cabs and no idea where we were. Luckily we found a night bus and hopped on and arrived back home at around 4. It was quite an adventure—getting lost here is very fun actually, and we’d know, it happens a lot.

2/8/08

Today we checked out the IES center where we will be taking classes, and then Lauren, Jess, John, Sam, Tom, and I crossed the river to run around Vatican City. The Holy See was beautiful beyond imagination, and no matter what religion, you can feel a sense of spirituality that emanates from the marble of every building, statue, and fountain.
We reluctantly left after a couple of hours, because we needed to make it back in time to tour the city on foot with our tour groups. We were late, of course, because it’s hard to hurry when you are standing over the Tiber and looking back on the dome of the Sistine Chapel, but we hijacked a tour guide and a few other stragglers and formed our own group.
We began our tour only moments away from our school, at the Pantheon. The building echoed so much that I couldn’t understand a word our guide was saying, so I can’t say much about it except that it was built around 128 AD, and the giant marble columns that make up the entire structure of the building were brought in only one piece. Everything in the Pantheon is solid marble, and at come points, almost 20 feet thick. It is so perfectly preserved that I had to ask if they had just installed the floors. (This turned out to be a dumb question.) Pictures really do not show the building justice, so just try to imagine it about 100 times more amazing than it looks.
From there we went to the Trevi Fountain, which was my favorite site so far. It is absolutely gigantic, and won’t really even fit in pictures. Our tight knit group of friends all took turns throwing coins into the fountain. (One to come back alone, two to return with the people you first came with, and three to come back with the love of your life.) I thought that three seemed like a lot of pressure, but everyone made me do it anyways.
Afterwards we went to the Spanish Steps and raced up to the top. They were much taller than I had anticipated, and needless to say, I didn’t win. The view from the top was gorgeous, and the sun was setting over the city. (Also, Sylvester Stalone was there, but I didn’t see him…or care, really.) I braved the slippery path into the fountain at the Spanish Steps, and drank the water, which was fun, but splashy.
At night our program forced us all into going to a bar in Campo di Fiori, which is like America-land. It was kind of nice to be able to order a drink in English without waving my arms all around and pantomiming taking a shot, but it would have been nice to have visited somewhere with a bit more culture. At about one, Lauren and I got a big surprise. Stephie walked into the bar! She found out where we are and braved the cobblestone in heels to come visit. It was nice to see a friendly face from home, and we had fun introducing her to all our new friends. We all enjoyed each other’s company until the bar closed, and then we had to walk a ways to find the only bar open until 4 in all of Italy. It was horribly crowded and we left promptly. (Side note: the biggest culture shock any of us have experienced is that absolutely nothing is open late! If you are coming home from the bars and want a slice of pizza or a bottle of water, you’re making it at home. For this reason, Sam and John plan to come back someday and open a late-night place called “Pizza and Water.” I think they’ll make a killing.)

2/7/08

Today we checked out of our Umbrian hotel and made our way to Orvieto, a hilltop city with views that stretch for hundreds of miles. Nothing remarkable happened here, but they did have good pizza. After returning to Rome, Lauren and I had our friends Sam and John over for dinner, and we made an Italian meal with plenty of Italian wine.

2/6/08

This morning we had a painfully long orientation seminar, which pretty much consisted of someone reading aloud the orientation booklet we had already read. This lasted a few hours, and then the group anxiously took off for Assisi. We toured the ancient cathedral whose countless artworks are perfectly preserved and breathtaking. (No pictures allowed inside, sorry.) Afterwards, we were given a few hour of free time, and after visiting the wine and pastry shop, we proceeded up the steep hill to check out the fortress at the very top. It was a tough climb, but after about a million steps and a few windy pathways on the edge of a cliff, we made it to the palace. It was less than spectacular, but the hike was fun and we all enjoyed each other’s company amidst the backdrop of the tiny city’s sparkling lights. Afterwards, the whole group went for a big dinner at a local restaurant, and I tried about ten foods I’ve never had before. (Are you proud Mom?!)

2/5/08

It was hard to sleep the first night because we were so excited and because our beds and pillows are horribly uncomfortable. Early the next morning we braved the Roman public transportation system and traveled 45 minutes by bus to the location of our school in order to leave for an orientation trip in Umbria. After a 4-hour bus ride we arrived in Perugia and toured the village. After dinner all 150 of us infiltrated the small town equipped with only a few bars. It was Carnivale that night, so we stuck out not only because we were an enormous group of Americans, but because we were the only people not wearing masks. The whole group bonded drinking Peroni on the steps of the Duomo.

2/4/08

After a couple of long and bumpy plane rides, Lauren and I finally arrived to the airport in Rome. We met a few people from our trip that got in on our same flight, including Nicole, who is one of the Rome-ies. Nicole and I took a very long and expensive cab ride to our new apartment in Piazza Bologna. On the ride we passed by countless legendary sites whose names I’m unsure of and one whose name I am sure of—the Coliseum.
We arrived in our beautiful apartment and were pleasantly surprised by its size and serene views from the balcony and front windows. All four roommates had arrived, (Lauren, Nicole, Dina, and I) and a good nap was in order. After waking up we departed for our first evening in Rome, and realized we hadn’t eaten in about two days. We went next door to MoMart, a trendy martini bar where a drink and unlimited pasta, pizza, and other aperitifs is only 8 euro. I filled up on Parmesan macaroni and pizza Margharita.