Getting Accustomed to Prague

Hey everyone!  I'm finally writing on my blog again.  I have a few days to catch you up on for Prague so be prepared for a little bit of a long post!  My very first day here was off to a rocky start but then got better.  First, my ride from the airport was not there.  Luckily I have an awesome fiancé who flew here a day before and was prepared to tell me all of the public transportation stops so that we could get to the hotel.  After heavily debating on taking a taxi, for the thought of having to carry all of my super heavy luggage was very daunting, I decided I should save some money and try out the public transportation.  Couldn't be to hard right? So, I took the bus to the metro stop, where Ali met me! It was so wonderful to see Ali after sooooo long.  I missed him so much.  After my long romantic kiss (: we countinued on the metro towards our hotel.  After the metro we got to take a tram!  The trams are kind of like the cable cars in San Francisco.  So we took the tram to our stop and then hiked up a huge hill with all of the luggage to our hotel.   Then Ali and I went out for a little exploration.  Ali and I set out to find a Lebanese restaurant, which turned out to be an impossible task.  We were on the hunt for a restaurant that was no longer there.  But it turned out to be a very nice walk though.  We ended up eating at an Indian restaurant that was delicious and so cheap!  Although if any European or American comes to Prague, they will be shocked with the amount they are paying.  It seems like you are giving away your life savings when they tell you you owe 200 crowns for a lunch.  You think 200!?!?  Or even 1200 for some furniture.  But really it is sooooo cheap.  200 czech crowns equates to about $10.  Nothing for a huge lunch special with drinks for two people!  So after lunch we decided to saunter back to the hotel.  We found a huge mall and decided to go check it out.  In the mall there was a grocery store, so we stocked up on some breakfast food and snacks for the week.  After our grocery store adventure we decided it was best to take the metro to get back.  Once we finally got in our hotel room, I took a shower to get the nasty airport stank off and took a little nap. ( I know, shocking!) We decided to walk up the hill in search of some food.  Rather than finding food, we found a beautiful palace with amazing views of the city.  Unfortunately it was raining so it wasn't super clear out, but the views were still gorgeous.  We ended up not finding any food up there so we went back down the hill.  Ali was in search of a sandwich so we stopped back in our hotel to ask them where we could get one.  The front desk told us that the only sandwich place was Subway.  Ali had told me he went to Subway the day before and it was disgusting.  He said he went to Subway and they didn't have sandwiches, but that it was Chinese food before.  It was a disgusting restaurant where not only was the food gross, but so was the owner.  The owner decided that it was approrpriate to pop their pimples in the middle of the restaurant.  Nasty!!!The funny thing is he thought that Subway in Prague might be a Chinese restaurant.  While he had been to Subway before, and knew that they had sandwiches, he thought that since he was in a different country the Subway might be different too.  So once I heard this I insisted to Ali that he was wrong.  We continued down the hill where my suspicions were confirmed,  Ali had simply gone in the wrong door.  This time Ali ate at the real Subway and was very pleased.  After Ali ate his sandwich, we went in search of some czech food for me.  Unfortunately,  I assumed that the Czech Republic had similar eating styles to Italy, in which they eat very late.  I was wrong.  They close around 10.  So with my only option being Subway,  I enjoyed a sandwich from an American corporation on my very first night in Prague.  Wouldn't be my first, second or even third choice, but what are you going to do when you're hungry and it's the only place open?
        The next day, I was ready to hit the town and see some sights.  At our hotel there was an advertisement for a free walking tour of the city.  Ali and I set out to find the famous (unrightfully so to some tourists) astronomical clock.  We were initially going to go on a walking tour with one group but we saw them leaving and saw a different company leaving closer to us so we decided to join their group.  It was Ali's first walking tour and he really enjoyed it.  We got to hear a lot about Czech history, which was nice since I didn't know any of it and some really interesting stories about certain sites around Prague.  For example, one legend about the astronomical clock is that the clockmaker was so amazing, that those who commissioned him to make the clock were fearful that he might recreate something similar somewhere else.  To prevent this, they blinded him.  As a punishment to the people who blinded them, the clockmaker killed himself by throwing himself into the gears of the clock and also cursing the clock for 100 years.  He was the only clockmaker in town, so for the next 100 years the clock did not work. This was just one of the stories but there were a lot more.  The tour lasted about 3 hours so we saw a lot and learned a lot.  After the tour we were pretty tired so we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit because we had a big night planned.  We were going to meet Jen Coburn and her daughter Katie.  We rested a little bit and then set out for our night with Jen and Katie on the jazz boat.  Luckily, Jen found out that the location was changed at the last minute due to the rain.  We met up with Katie and Jen for a wonderful night.  The food was delicious, the music was great, and I was so excited to finally have someone from home meet Ali.  Ali and I had a lot of fun hanging out with Jen and Katie. After the jazz boat we walked home with Katie and Jen, only to realize that we had actually passed their hotel on our food hunt the previous night.  

I will continue the rest soon.  But here are my first two days!

Traditional Education Versus Online Education

Traditional schooling is significantly better than online schooling.  While for some online schooling is better because they don’t have to be tied down to one place, I truly think that they are missing out on a vital aspect of their education.  Traditional schooling allows for people to be focused, build relationships, and get more out of their education.

First an education that requires someone to come to class requires that this person be motivated and determined.  They must have the drive to get up, get dressed, and go sit in class. It is like a test drive for a future job.  Also, one who is sitting in class does not really have the ability to multitask on other things.  Sure, there may be the occasional texting or daydreaming but with online education multitasking and distractions are everywhere you turn.  Online education is done is typically done in the home which screams distraction. Traditional education offers a place for students to come and focus in an environment that is completely dedicated to their education.

Furthermore, traditional education allows for people to build real-life relationships as opposed to virtual ones.  It is important to learn how to build relationships with peers and professors.  This can also help in the world of employment because networking leads to great opportunities.  Online education may offer some form of relationship but it is not impressionable to meet someone online as it is to meet them in person.  It is the difference of putting a face to a name versus just a name.   

Lastly, traditional education offers more room for personal growth in addition to a greater number of opportunities.  A person will learn to be accountable, gain communication skills and more focused.  Traditional schooling has been working for centuries, let’s keep it that way!  

Florence, Rome, Milano.....2 weeks of cathching up.

Sorry for the delay in writing!  I guess I have been busy with traveling and family.  Also the time that I did have free unfortunately there wasn't any internet.  Anyways,  be prepared for a long entry because I have a lot to catch everyone up on!! At the beginning of April I was beginning to get ready for Mama, Bear, and Olivia to come.   I cleaned, as we all know is my favorite activity.  I went to the grocery store and bought some snacks because it is known that Mama sans Diet Coke is not a happy mama.  After returning home for the grocery store I pondered about how  I was going to sneak my family in.  Technically I am not supposed to have people stay the night where I live, but everyone else does so  I thought I would too.  Now normally it is fairly easy to sneak people in,  but the fam bam was coming in the holiday season.   Life in Italy is not really a life during Easter.  Nothing is open and it is definitely like a ghost town.  Typically there is a side gate open that it would have been no problem to sneak everyone in at.  It is actually the gate I normally go through anyway because it leads directly from my building to one of the bus lines, but as I mentioned before everything is closed during Easter.  Therefore I stressed over how I was going to get four people, that only one could pass as a student here,  in to my room, past the front desk.   And it wasn't just oh I will get a fine, apparently they kick you out for a certain number of days if you break the rules.  Furthermore,  even though  I mentioned that everyone should pack light, I know my mom and sister and they definitely do not know how to pack light.  So for the rest of this day I stressed about the living situation and waited with anticipation for the next morning to arrive.
Finally!  The day that everyone was coming had arrived.  I woke up early so that I could look my best, as I hadn't seen everyone in a few months.  Then I walked to the train station and took 2 trains to go the Malpensa airport.  I made sure to bring a book with me, as this is about a two hour journey.  When I arrived at the airport I was a little bit stressed because I didn't see American Airlines on any of the arrival boards.  Luckily,  I knew where there layover was and at what time they were supposed to arrive so using my common sense I put two and two together and came to the conclusion that they must be on the Spanish airline Ibizia or some name like that.  I thought to myself this must be the flight, but then time was passing and I didn't see them.  So I was starving and I decided to get a quick sandwich.  And what do ya know?  That is right when they came out of the gate.  So as I was walking back I ran into Olivia.  I was so excited to see her! And then she took me to where Bear and Mama were.  It was a happy little family reunion just like in the movies. :)  Then we had to decided which way to get back to the Milano central station.  There was the option of the train or taking a bus.  Right off the bat I got to impress everyone with my Italian skills by asking for 4 tickets on the bus.  We then went outside to the bus and began our journey.  After about an hour on the bus we arrived at the train station.  We wanted to buy our train tickets but Mama's ATM didn't work at the machine.  So then I had to ask where the ATM was and every direction I got was confusing.  They all kept telling me to go downstairs but this was confusing, as it seemed that we were already on the bottom floor.  So rather than dragging everyone around I told them to stay and I would go find the ATM machine.  This was a good plan too because they were all starving.  After searching around a bit more the ATM machine if figured out why I couldn't find it.  Everyone was telling me it was down....not outside and down by the metro.  So after a 15-20 minute hunt I found the ATM machine and then quickly returned back to everyone.  I thought to myself they were probably getting scared because I left them in a country where they don't speak the language and they have no money.  When I came back to them my thoughts were confirmed, they were scared.  So then we were able to buy our tickets and had to wait for the next train.  It was a bit stressful for everyone I think, particularly Mama.  While Mama is understanding of situations, she simultaneously in not understanding.  She expected that she would be able to get a large diet coke on ice.  She was a bit on edge after such a long flight and not having the accessibility to a nice freezing diet coke.  Therefore we were bickering a little bit.  I got upset with her because I told her she can't be like this the whole week.  It was the first day and she was already complaining about the diet coke situation and the differences.  Yet at the same time, I should have understood that she was just tired from her loooooong flight across the world.  So we tried to squash the bickering.  But then we encountered a whole new situation.  Finally we were able to get on the train.  Yet contrary to what I had told them, everyone had at least two suitcases....not my idea of packing light.  Due to the high volume of travel during Easter, the trains were extremely crowded.  There were very limited seats available on the train but we had found some.  Yet as Mama sat down she put her bag down on a chair and this old lady started yelling at her in Italian from the seat across from her.  Mama was upset and started saying "I don't understand what you are saying!"  And then the lady was yelling "Stai calma!!"  Which is stay calm.  Mama got very upset and then decided just to not sit there and rather sit near the doors instead.  Mama was upset and saying "I don't fucking understand you lady,  and she is screaming at me in Italian."  I had to remind Mama that she was in this woman's country and the woman was only speaking the native language.  While the woman should not have yelled at her as she did,  Mama needed to understand that she was in their country, and if they spoke to her in Italian she should not get upset.  After about a half hour of sitting in the train corridor we finally reached our stop: Pavia.  I think by the time we were in Pavia it was becoming clear to everyone why I had suggested packing light.  Once you get off the train there are a number of steps you must go up, and without an elevator, and abundance of luggage this proves to be a quite difficult task.   After getting in our workout at the stairs we reached the bus stop.  The bus wasn't going to be there for a couple of minutes so Mama was able to finally get her diet coke, thus she was in a much better mood and the laughs could begin.   First we had to get on the bus....with all the luggage.  Mama was a train wreck on the bus which gave Fairleigh, Olivia and I some very good laughs.  Mama was falling all over the bus, she was standing next to the door and her arm got caught in between the door and the pole.   We were all laughing hysterically and all the Italians were staring at us like we were crazy.....which is a definite possibility that we are.  But to them we must have seemed strange.  A mix of ages, with all these suitcases, smiling and laughing, a concept not familiar to people on the bus.  I swear I am one of the only people that smiles here in Italy!  Finally we had reached our final destination,  Golgi.  I had been telling everyone that they would feel bad for me when they saw where I lived and they would all joke "Yeah we feel so bad for you....poor you, you have to live in Italy."  But now that my family has been here, they actually do feel bad for me.  First we had to take separate elevator trips up because the elevator wouldn't hold all of us.  So I sent up Olivia and Fairleigh first.  I told them my room was 256....which I always mistake.  My room is actually 258 and I had sent them to Ali's room.  They went into Ali's room and when I had finally got up to our floor I saw them coming out of Ali's room looking terrified. Like OMG we have to stay here?!? Ali's room didn't really look like a room people could stay in.  He has lived there much longer so he has more stuff.  Also there wasn't a bed because it was in my room, there chairs were up on the couch, etc;    So then I told them whoops I told you the wrong room, but that is the room where you will be taking a shower.  They did not look happy.   I brought them to my room and they thought ok....well this is a little better.  Fairleigh and my mom were a little bit tired so they wanted to to take a nap so they decided to get the air mattress out.  Yet when they started to blow up the air mattress with the pump it started smoking and smelling like burnt rubber.  It was disgusting!  Thus was born the phrase "Oust that shit!" a common phrase used our entire trip.  Because the pump was broken my mom had to blow up the air mattress by mouth, a very daunting task.   After blowing up the air mattress my mom and bear took a nap while Olivia and I hit the town!  I took Olivia to Piazza Vittoria in the center of Pavia.  We sat outside and ate apertivo at a little restaurant.  I told Olivia that she should try a new drink here that they don't have in the U.S.  I recommended one to her but she said it didn't sound good because it would be to sweet.  So I suggested one that a lot of people get here that is a little bit more bitter.  I guess Olivia didn't realize how bitter it would be though and she hated it.  So I switched drinks with her and she liked the one I originally suggested.  Olivia also enjoyed her first apertivo because some girls across the patio at another table waved at her and said "Ciao Bella!"  She was so excited because the girls were so friendly to her.  Now one of Olivia's favorite phrases is "Ciao Bello/a!"  After sitting, talking, and eating at apertivo Olivia and I returned home to go pick up Bear and Mama.  On the way we stopped in some shops and also ran into my friend Anita.  Then when we got home Mama and Bear had to rush to get ready because they were still sleeping and we had dinner reservations at the Lebanese restaurant.  They were very disoriented.  We ended up changing the reservation at the restaurant to a little bit later.   When we got to the Lebanese restaurant it was like a feast.  My friend Hassan had called earlier and ordered for us.  There was tabouleh, fattoush, kibbeh, shwarma, chicken, kafta, pita, hummus, baba ganoush, waraq enab, and a bottle of Lebanese wine.  It was delicious!  Everyone loved it.  Afterwords I took everyone to one of my favorite places in Pavia....the piadineria!  I ordered two dessert piadinas so we could split them.  We were so full from dinner there was no way we could each have a full piadina.  I ordered a crema bianca and strawberry piadina and also a nutella and orange slice one.  Both equally delicious.  In this time I also had my friend Piero take Fairleigh and Oliva out on the scooter.  This way they could feel like they were truly in Italy.   Olivia loved that when Piero took her out he stopped at the light and said in his Italian accent "Red is stop, Grrrreen is go."  After the scooter ride we went back home so that we could all sleep and get ready for our exciting trip to Florence.

The next morning we woke up to get ready for Florence.  We headed to the train station on another eventful bus ride.  I guess it is a really good thing that we all have cars because O'Connors/Quinns/Brants and buses do not mix.  If they do mix it does serve to create a lot of laughter.  After a short and funny bus ride to the station we bought tickets to Florence.  Luckily Olivia had cash because for some reason the American debit cards are not compatible with the train stations.  After we bought our tickets we headed to the train.  We were able to get seats on this train, although not all together.  Mama and Bear sat with each other and Olivia and I each sat on our own.  There was an extra seat next to me but Olivia had sat down in another cart and I didn't want to search for her and lose my seat, so instead I read. :)  Mama and Bear met an Italian man that was going to go to San Luis Obispo.  I was so excited when he told me since my best friend Heather goes to school there.  I have been to SLO a few times to visit Heather so I told the man all the best restaurants that she had taken me too.  Perhaps SLO is a destination for Milanese people because  a few months ago Heather met 3 guys from Milan in SLO.  What a small world! Anyways,  after we had got off the train we had an hour layover until our next train to Florence.  So we went to go eat at a restaurant in the station.  This was Olivia's favorite place of the entire trip.  She got a ham & cheese sandwhich,  her first Italian coffee, and her first fruit tart.  Olivia liked her first Italian coffee but didn't realize how bitter it was. She had to add a lot of cream and sugar.  Furthermore, it was here that the obsession with fruit tarts was born.  For the rest of the entire trip Olivia was constantly on the hunt for fruit tarts.   We chose to take our food outside and eat on the grass near a fountain.  It was nice to be outside and catch up a little.  We didn't stay too long outside because we knew that the train was crowded and we wanted to be able to get a seat.  So we ate fairly quickly and then went inside to look at what platform our train would be at.   It wasn't listed yet when we got inside, so like everyone else in the train station we had to stand there staring at a board.  Finally the platform was listed and then the chaos began.  Everyone was rushing to the train and I thought wow we better hurry up.  So we weaved in and out of people and got to the front of the crowd.  We boarded the train and found some amazing seats.   We found a section of four seats with a table in between them.  We all thought "YES! SCORE!"  We started getting comfortable and breaking out the cards, as we knew it was going to be a 1.5 hour trip.   After we were just about settled in a woman came up to us and reality hit us.   These weren't seats for anyone to take, you have to have a reservation to sit there.  Our moods quickly changed as we realized that we didn't have a seat for the entire train ride.  Essentially we were demoted and had to sit on the floor in the corridor like second class citizens.  While it was not ideal it did create some good laughs.  On our trip I met a guy named Nico.  He only spoke Italian but I was able to practice my language skills with him.  He was also going to Florence because his girlfriend lives there so I asked him where some good places to go were.  He said he didn't really know but we could ask his girlfriend when we arrived, which ended up being superrrr awkward.   When we got off the train it looked like Nico had gained an entire family.  We were following him but trying not to at the same time because we weren't sure if he said go with him.  Also we were about to witness the rejoining of a long distance couple.  I'm sure that's what they totally wanted... a romantic kiss, with the new American family that has tagged along watching in the background.   Uncomfortable much???  When they came over to us it was more awkward.  Nico had made it sound like she lived in Florence when in reality she lived in a suburb outside of Florence and didn't actually know the good things.  So that was a situation that was not so fun.  After our awkward encounter we continued on to our hotel in a taxi.  Our hotel was in a great location, about five minutes from the Duomo and Baptistery, two of the main sites in Florence.  So we quickly dropped our stuff off in the room and headed out to hit the streets of Florence.   It was  Mama's number one t hing to go see Michelangelo's David in Florence so that is where we headed first.  I guess a lot of people also want to see the David because the line was very long.  But we just sucked it up and enjoyed Italian food and street vendors.  Here is where Mama, Bear, and Olivia tried their first gelato.  They got it to eat while they were waiting in line.  It was pretty delicious.  Bear also tried her first Italian pizza, which she loved.  Then it was back to the line.  In the line Mama met some American people next to her.  One of the guys was from Riverside and happened to be moving to San Diego in about a month and out of all the places to work he was going to be working at the same hospital as Sarah! What a small world!  So Mama also gave him her contact info so that he could call if he had any questions and meet Sarah.  Also in line we were entertained by the street vendors and their extreme pushiness.  One guy even asked Olivia out on a date and then told her that he has dreams about her.  Strange.....   When Olivia said no he turned to Mama and was sticking his tongue out at her in a very dirty manner.  What horn dogs!  After the very interesting line we finally were able to get inside to see the David statue.   It was really amazing.  You can't imagine someone being able to carve something so large and so precise out of marble.  Michelangelo is truly talented.... in case you haven't heard already.  We also saw some other statues around the museum and the paintings.  They were nice.  After seeing the museum we continued to see some of Florence.  We were starving though and found a cute little restaurant by the Duomo that had the fixed price menu for 11 Euro.  A great deal in Italy but particularly for a place right next to the Duomo.  Here we had pasta, "black chicken," bread, salad, and Italian vino.  Yuuuummm.  All of it was delicious but filling.  Fairleigh I guess was feeling a little Papaish and decided to finish off everyone's food.   And like Papa finishing everyone's food at the restaurant before Ireland,  Fairleigh also got sick like Papa.  After eating she felt really sick so we had to rush back to the hotel.  It wasn't so late when we got back to the hotel but late enough that we realized we were tired and would just call it a night.  So it was off to bed for us after the eventful day.
The next day was Easter.  We thought Easter at the Duomo would be amazing.  So we got up fairly early to make sure that we got a good spot at the Duomo.  It was a really nice day out when we started.  We headed over to the church and stood among the crowd.  Luckily we found this little platform that put us about 3 inches above everyone making it easier to see.  Mama said it is times like that, that she feels bad her children are short because as a tall person she is able to see everything.  We saw that there were musicians and dancers and eventually large bulls with flowers on their head.  They were pulling this extravagant wooden thing that was supposed to have fireworks on the top.  Just as they were about to light it the sky decided to open up and give us a little Easter rain.   Olivia was not down with the rain getting her hair wet so she took off.  She was there one second and then gone the next.  Had she stayed she probably would have been ok, as almost every single person excpet us had an umbrella.  It quickly became a sea of umbrellas with every area covered, that is every single area except the one part I was standing in.  Even Mama and Bear were covered by other people's umbrellas.  But it was ok because I enjoy the rain.  I couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation.  Mama was very pleased with me, as I had convinced her to leave her heavy waterproof jacket at home earlier in the morning.    Even though we didn't have Olivia we headed back to the hotel.  We were soaking wet and there was no way we could find Olivia in the massive crowd.  So when we got back to the hotel we left my Italian phone number with the front desk so that she could call it.  Everyone changed and then we headed back out.  With our newly purchased umbrellas, scarves, and sweatshirts we were prepared to conquer the rain.  We headed to the area we were at first just to see if we could find Olivia and I guess God was on our side that day because out of all the people we found her! She then decided to buy an Italian sweatsuit that read Italy and Universita' degli Studi di Firenze.  While she was purchasing the sweatsuit Mama went and had her first of many Italian canoli. Once we were all settled and warm we headed to a enormous open market.  We walked through it for a bit but decided it best not to shop on an empty stomach so then we went to go eat at a restaurant just behind the stands.  The food there was pretty good, but not the service.  The waitress was completely rude.  We watched her literally yell at a customer in the middle of the restaurant because he didn't understand the difference between two pasta dishes.   We were a bit afraid of what might be in store for us, but it all worked out because at least she didn't yell at us.  She did mock Olivia though for asking if we got dessert with our meal.  I guess she would be better off to work at a restaurant such as Dick's Last Resort where they are supposed to be mean to you. Anyways after eating our meal we headed back out to the shops.  It was Italian leather heaven!!  Everything leather.  We were walking all down the shops but Mama had to go to the bathroom very badly so we got separated.  I was in search for an Italian leather jacket so I hunted the stands.  Earlier I had spoke with someone at the stands and promised them I would come back.  The street vendors did instantly lowered their prices the second I spoke Italian with them.   I guess they were all surprised to see this white very Irish looking girl speaking Italian.  So anyways I found a stand where I bought a leather jacket.  They said they had a shop behind the stand so Olivia and I went inside.  I had already purchased my jacket from another place but Olivia wanted one too.  She tried on several jackets but decided on one called a "Shakira" jacket.   We were negotiating prices when all of a sudden Mama and Bear walked in.  I was so surprised that they were able to find us because we were behind inside a store that was not visible from the street.  Apparently I am a very memorable person because people were trying to sell things to my mom and she replied that she was looking for her daughter.  Then they told her "Oh yeah!  The girl from Pavia?  She is inside this store."  I guess more than one stand told her where the girl from Pavia went too.   I guess I make my mark everywhere I go.  So after they found us we purchased Olivia's jacket and shopped a little more.  Mama bought a new leather purse and matching wallet.  I also bought a new leather purse.  Yay for leather!  After we left the area Mama explained her hilarious/unfortunate story.  I guess she had to rush back to the bathroom in the restaurant that we went to because like Fairleigh she had an upset stomach.  Apparently she missed the toilet when she went to the bathroom and got it all over the toilet and the floor.  She ended up cleaning a public restroom.  Fairleigh was waiting outside and said it was really awkward because there was a lady waiting outside.  Fair said she knew something was wrong but didn't know exactly.  When Mama came outside she tried to just tell the lady that the toilet wouldn't flush but the lady insisted on going in and trying to fix it.   Ahahahaha.  I think we all about died from laughter when Mama told us this story.  After we left this area we continued on to see the Ponte Vecchio, translated as Old Bridge.   It was gorgeous to see.  We walked across it to the other side where we wanted to go to a Park that was recommended to us by the American guy Mama met in line at the David museum.  We followed the signs for the park but whewwwww such an incline!!  There were so many stairs and hills that we definitely earned all the food we had been eating.  Mama says she now knows why her Italian friend recommended training for Italy.  But once we got to the top it was definitely worth it.  It was everything you imagined Italy to be.  The gorgeous Duomo of the church and the Tuscan hillside with trees and other greenery.  It was quite a breathtaking view.   We sat up at the top for a while.  We then decided to head back for a little rest.  We went back to the hotel for about an hour.  At this time we skyped everyone because they were all together for Easter.  It was really nice to be able to talk to everyone all together.   After skyping we headed out to dinner.  We went to a place that was pretty close to our hotel.  On the way back though we took the wrong way and stumbled upon this AMAZING gelato place.   You could buy 50 cent gelato that was about the size of a bite.  I got a 50 cent ricotta and fig flavored one.  It was soooooo delicious.  We also ordered a bunch of chocolate covered cream puffs to go.  I am pretty sure that all Italian people think we are crazy.  I'm happy we went the wrong way because then we never would have discovered that place.  After our tiny gelati we returned home for the night.
The next morning we woke up and decided just to explore Florence a little bit more.  This was definitely a day of eating.  We ate sooooo much because we found some delicious and really cheap food.  We saw a little puppet show outside of a church for about five minutes, took some pictures with the statue men that move if you give them coins, shopped, and ate.   We didn't do a ton of stuff other than walk around because we had a train to catch later.  After walking around we stopped at one more pizza place to get food & a glass of wine to go (which the shop owners thought was funny) because we had a train to catch.  We were walking back and saw a cab so we got in the cab to take us to the hotel to grab our stuff and then to the train station.  I think they should make shirts that read "I survived a cab ride in Florence."  I seriously thought I was going to die and every single pedestrian was going to die with this crazy cab driver.  She did not care about anyone in the road and just headed at them.  Also I had my glass of red wine and I was sooooo afraid it was going to spill all over how she was driving.  I was so thankful to arrive to the train station.  We then boarded our train, which we had seats for this time and headed on down to Rome.  After getting off the train in Rome we took the metro to the stop that our hotel said.  Mama was really excited because we met a group of nuns on the metro.  I guess I am more used to clergy walking around now and I expected nothing less than an abundance of them in Rome, which the Holy State is located within. I was really scared for our hotel when I saw where we were getting off at the metro.  It did not look like a place a hotel would be.  It took us a while to find a cab.  Once we got in the cab we though it would be just a short little ride.  We were very wrong.  Instead we went down a tiny ass road into the middle of no where.  Thank you Priceline for giving us a great price......in the middle of nowhere.  But it worked out fine because our hotel had a shuttle bus.  It left about every hour and a half to go straight to Vatican city.  It wasn't leaving at a convenient time so we took the public bus on the way there.  We arrived to see how stunning Vatican city was.  Mama was surprised at how large it was.  We walked around it for a bit and just took in its grandiose features.  We were starving so we went to a restaurant close by.  This was a mistake.  It was the most disgusting meal we had in Italy.  After our dissatisfying meal  we went to go look at a castle that was nearby.  It was really fun here.   Fairleigh, Olivia and I played tag all around the castle.  The castle was right next to the river and also had a spectacular view of Vatican City.  So after tag at the castle and more photo opportunities we headed back to where the hotel shuttle bus was supposed to be picking us up.  There was a gelato shop that was near the drop off location that we saw a huge line at earlier in the day so we decided to try it out.  Boy was it delicious!!! I found my new favorite flavors of gelato.  Blueberry yogurt,  cassata siciliana, and ricotta pistachio.  Soooooo delicious!   So we got our gelato to go and were waiting for the bus.  The bus pulled up and all of us except Olivia had finished her gelato.  We got on the bus not really thinking of anything of it.  There were a lot of people getting on the bus as well so we kind of got separated in the line.  Mama, Bear, and I got on the bus and were seated when we heard the bus driver saying something to someone.  We looked and that someone was Olivia.  He was telling her that she couldn't bring the gelato on the bus....but in Italian.  She was trying to ask him if she could go throw it away in the trash can....in Spanish.  She was afraid if she went to the end of the block to throw it away the bus would leave without her.  It was sooooo funny watching this all play out.  Finally she just went to the trash can and when she got back on the bus she laughing hysterically.  Then she tried to sit down in one of the seats and a guy said no you can't sit there, as a joke of course but she thought he was serious.  It was a very funny night.  Then we got back to the hotel and we had to sneak Olivia in because we told them we only had 3 people staying there and didn't want to pay 30 euro more a night.  Once we got back in our hotel room we were supposed to have a pullout bed.  They didn't bring it so we had to call them to come up to our room which was a problem since we had four people the the room.  The obvious solution was to hide someone in the closet of course.  They set it up while Olivia was in the shower.  The bed was super close to mine so Mama tried to move it which was not so great of an idea since it is designed to collapse down.  She was trying to move the bed when it broke.  I was laughing so hard at her trying to fix it.  Eventually she fixed it and got it all moved but then when Olivia was adjusting the bed it broke.  The whole situation was a source of much laughter.  After our many laughs we were able to sleep for the night.

The next morning we made sure to wake up extra early so that we could be on the first bus to the city.  We were supposed to go see Vatican City that day and it would have been a nightmare if we went late in the afternoon.  We arrived in the morning and got in the long line.  It was long and it hadn't even opened yet.  Things did not look good.  We were in a long line, it was cold, and we had to deal with a ton of pushy street advertisers advertising their "skip the lines, Vatican tour, any language?  French, Italian, German, English,  Chinese,  Japanese, etc;"   But this was Vatican City, our holy land, so we were going to wait it out.  We embraced the street vendors and the cold by buying scarves.  Olivia's turned out looking really cute when I tied it,  I tied mine the same way and it looked like an actual tie.  So I had to do some adjusting.   Then, against Mama's wished,  I left the line in search of the sacred drug,  caffeine, in the forms of coffee and diet coke.  Although Mama was trying to force me to stay in the awful line and deal with the scary morning Mama without diet coke sometimes it is better not to listen to your parents.  So I went with my instinct and ignored her.   The reason she didnt want us to go is because she was afraid we were going to lose her in a line.   But really its a line...how will I lose her in a line that isn't moving?  So I ventured out for some diet coke, coffee, and a morning snack because Bear is always hungry.  I found some delightfully overpriced items and purhcashed them to bring back to the line.  While Mama surely was not happy that I ignored her wishes, in the end she was pleased that I went with my gut, because that meant that she could have a Diet Coke, meaning the Vatican would be much more enjoyable.  Olivia and Bear appreciated their morning fuel as well. :) A few minutes later the Vatican opened so the line started to move.  Soon enough we  were inside the Vatican.  It was amazing.  It is huge and has the most amazing art one has ever seen.  There were rooms dedicated to animal sculptures, bust sculptures, paintings, basically any art possible.  My favorite room in the Vatican was definitely the map room.  It was essentially a long corridor covered in maps of the world on the wall and gold all over the ceiling.  Gorgeous!  After the map room we continued on to the Rafaello rooms which were also amazing.  In the audio tour that we had it said that there were previous frescos in the room but the Pope at the time just wanted Rafaello's artistry so Rafaello got rid of all the other frescos except one, which was his previous mentors.  He left to pay respect to his previous mentor.   Then there was the Sistine Chapel.  The artistry is amazing in there was well, but we had been here so long that Bear's and my feet were killing us so we sat along the edge.  Just when we thought we were done with museum we went out of the Sistine Chapel and saw a huge line.  We were wondering what it was for and discovered that it was to go in the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica.  We decided that even though the line was extremely long we had to go up because that was the main attraction of the Vatican.  We waited in a terrible "line" which was more like a mob.  Mama wanted to kill these two little french boys who kept pushing on her.  We nicknamed them Pierre and Jacques. Finally after waiting for what seemed like forever we were able to go up into the basilica.  We didn't choose the lift option because we thought how bad could it bed.  It wasn't so bad but it definitely was not easy.  It didn't make sense to pay two euro for the lift anyway because it didn't actually take you all the way up.  We made it up to the first part and then we saw that you could go up in the dome.  It was the most narrow, claustrophobic curved in staircase ever.  I couldn't wait to get to the top.  We finally did get to the top and it was well worth it.  The views of the city were breathtaking.   We then headed down into the church.  After all of this we had spent about 7 hours there so we were extremely exhausted so the obvious conclusion was to sit down and eat.  We were supposed to go to this one place for aperitivo but it was closed which really sucked because we went out of the way to go there.  We ended up going somewhere that was rather ordinary.  After our dinner we headed to the Trevi Fountain to toss some coins in the famous fountain.  Legend has it that if you throw coins in the fountain you will one day return to Rome.  Following the traditional coin tossing we headed to the church.  The church is always a nice place to take a break.  You can hang out with God while simultaneously resting in a cool relaxing seat.  After gaining back some energy in the church we walked very quickly back to the metro station because we realized we would miss the last metro and thus the last bus.  Luckily we made it on time, but just barely.  We got back to the meeting place for the bus and had our nightly gelato from Old Bridge.  We also saw someone famous there, not that we knew he was.  Mama of course made me take a picture with him.  So after shmoozing with the celebrities and eating ice cream we finally headed back to end our 14 hour day.  Needless to say we slept very well.

We slept in a bit later this day and took the 10:30 bus into the city.  After our long and tiring day before we decided we need to start with breakfast.  Mama had her travel book in which she read about a delicious bakery with "the best cappucino." So we set out on the hunt to find the bakery called "Panella."  We were having a very difficult time finding it.  Then we saw a bakery and decided let's just go here.  Then it turned out it was Panella!  We ate a ton of food at Panella.   Which our food list is to come after.  After eating at Panella we continued to go onto the Colosseum. On the way to the Colosseum we decided to stop and get gelato because we are fatties and apparently didn't eat enough at breakfast.  Hahahaha.  So after gelato we attempted to get to the Colosseum again.  Then we ran into some Irish friends on the road.  Mama was so excited to meet them and suggested doing a house exchange with them like we did in 2004.  I'm sure they thought she was crazy considering she had just suggested that we switch houses when she had met them for about two minutes. But I guess they didn't think we were that crazy because they gave us their email address.  So after meeting our Irish friends, exchanging emails and taking photos we hopped on the bus to the Colosseum.  On the bus there was this old man who kept telling me how beautiful I was and that he loved my eyes.  And Mama, the Japanese photographer that she is, insisted on taking another photo.  So we took a photo with the man.  While we were taking the photo he asked me "No kiss??"  In Italian of course.  But then I told him that I have a boyfriend and he told me he is stronger than my boyfriend.  Then he gave me a business card for a restaurant that his son owns.  After getting off the bus we went into the Colosseum.  It was really cool to look around there.  But it was raining really hard and Olivia was about to die from the cold.  So after that we went to continue onto the Roman ruins.  On the way Olivia bought a pink poncho that made her look like Bazooka bubble gum.  It helped keep her warm. :)  So then in the Roman ruins Mama insisted on seeing the house of Livia.  We searched all over for this house and then we got there it was closed.  Mama was very very disappointed. I felt bad for her. So after that then we decided to head to the Spanish steps.  We saw it very quickly and then decided to go eat because we were dying of hunger.  We sat at a cute little restaurant outside on a cobble stone street.  The bonus of this restaurant was the free wifi. After refueling and checking some emails we hit up some souvineir shops.  Then after some shopping we went to look at the Parthanon.  We got there 15 minutes too late though and couldn't go inside.  I was bummed about that.  I wish Papa could have been there with us.  He would have loved it.  Bear was tired, as usual, at this time, so she and Mama sat outside at a fountain while Olivia and I went around for some more shopping.   We didn't really find much but Olivia did get to take some photos with Italian policemen.  She also told them "Ciao bello!" When she left. Oh Olivia.... After that we all got back together and headed back to the hotel for some sweet dreams.

The next morning we woke up for our Italian road trip.  It was really funny at first.  Both Mama and I were a little bit scared for how this was going to all pan out.  First of all, we had to solve the puzzle of fitting everything inside the trunk in the tiny European car.  It took us a few minutes but we were not going to be defeated! So after being puzzle masters we had to try to master the European car, which of course is manual.  Luckily Mama knows manual, unfortunately she is not so used to it.  First she couldn't figure out how to get the car in reverse.  So we decided well I guess that's ok because we are only going forward for the time being.  So we headed on over to the exit of the parking lot.  While we thought we wouldn't have to reverse, Mama also didn't prepare herself for losing the ticket to get out and cars lining up behind her to also get out. So she was at the front, cars were coming, and we had no ticket.  I got out of the car and booked it to the reception desk where I told them she lost the ticket.  When I came back she was not in front of the gate and the other cars were gone so I assumed she had learned about reverse. But then when I asked her she said "No, no.  I rolled back.  Thank God we are on a hill." Hahahaha.   We then got back in the car and headed out the parking lot and into the scary roads that awaited us.  They turned out not to be so bad.  We continued on for a while and ate a cute little restaurant in the middle of nowhere.  They thought it was really funny when Olivia had ordered her coffee before her meal.  Then when we were leaving they offered us free Limoncello, which was delicious!  After our meal we headed on over to Siena where we got nothing done because the signs in Italy are the worst signs in the world.  They truly do not make sense most of the time.  At this point we were all in a bad mood and it was getting late so we basically went to Siena and then left.  We decided to stop and eat in Bologna which was definitely a good idea.  I tried bolognese sauce in it's birthplace!  At our meal though they definitely thought we were crazy for how much food we had ordered. And Olivia had ordered some sorbet and it was basically liquid.  She complained about it and the guy laughed at her.  We were like what the fuck!?! So after our delicious first and second courses, not so delicious desserts we headed on back to Pavia.  It was nice and not so nice to be back at the same time.  Nice to back to my stuff not so nice to back where I live because it is a shithole.

After our nice sleep we woke up and got ready for the day.  We were supposed to return the car, go to the grocery store and head to Milan for the last day of sightseeing.  This did not work out at all.  The stupid car rental place is in the middle of nowhere with the smallest freaking sign in the world.  We searched for it for forever, no one knew where it was, and it was basically a big waste of time.  We were all irritated and fighting and decided it would be best just to get some food.  So we went to this really cool place and got a ton of food.  They thought we were freaks there for the amount of food we ordered but I explained to them that it was the last day of vacation.......which I guess made it a little bit more acceptable.  They also had cartoon pizzas that they made different shapes.  Bear had ordered a bear shaped pizza but they misunderstood and made her a duck.  But it was still delicious. So after lunch we were in a much better mood and then went to the grocery store for shopping since we still had the car and could bring it back to where I leave.  I stocked up on all the heavy things that way I wouldn't have to carry it all on the bus in the future which is not so fun.  When we got into the shopping center first we had to figure out how to get the shopping cart.  Here you have to pay money for a shopping cart and then when you bring it back you get the money back.  But we couldn't figure out how to getthe money in and the cart out so the man that worked there had to help us.  Mama of course had to take a picture during this situation and the man thought that we were even crazier.  But it made for some good laughs.  Then we went into the grocery store, which everyone loved because it was all different and Italian.  We bought a ton of olive oil there for everyone to bring back home. After our grocery store rendezvous we headed back to my place to drop of the groceries.  My friend Nicolo saw us and helped us.  But on the way the bags broke.  It was funny and not at the same time.  After unloading everything we got everyone's stuff and put in the car.  We decided it would be easier to drop Olivia and Bear at the train station with all the luggage and Mama and I go search for the stupid car place.  This time we were bettered prepared though because we had looked it up on Google Earth and we knew what it looked like.  So we found the place and went in to drop off the car.  This turned into a fight because they wanted to charge us a whole extra day for being two hours late when the lady in Rome had told us it would only be hourly.  We were really mad because Mama had specifially asked the lady in Rome how much we would be charged if we brought it late and the lady said it was only hourly.  If we had known they were going to charge us a whole day we wouldn't have stopped to eat lunch and go grocery shopping.  So I had to try to fight with the lady in Italian which is frustrating because I only know so much Italian vocabulary. So the fight basically went nowhere and then we just left.  We then had to wait for the bus in the rain to take back to the train station.  We finally got to the train station and it was about 6p.m.  Finally we all met up and got to the train station in Milan.  We checked our bags and then were able to finally see a little bit of Milan.  I took everyone on the metro to Duomo stop.  I was so happy that we got out and the first thing they all saw was the Duomo all lit up.  It was really beautiful for them to see it like this.  So after some photo taking at the Duomo we headed to the Opera alla Scala, the most famous opera house in Italy.   Then after the Opera we went over to the castle.  We didn't really get to see so much of Milano because we got there and everything was closed already.  So basically we saw those things and then headed to the hotel for the evening.  I decided to stay the night with them because I didn't want to travel back by myself and I didn't want to say goodbye quite yet.  So we went to sleep and then woke up early to say goodbye.  :(  I was sad to see everyone go.

Right now I am sitting in Berlin at Jenny's house finishing this up.  I know I am super behind but look out for Barcelona and Berlin trip!  They will hopefully be coming this week. :)

Italian Immersion

The past couple days have been a lot of fun.  On Thursday I went on a road trip to Brescia.  I didn't really get to see anything in Brescia because I went there with my friend Ali for business but I was so happy to go in a car.  Also the drive was beautiful.  The drive is very different then a drive in California.  There are so many trees and farms.  I swear spring in Italy happens in about one week.  It is exactly like the calendar says! So it was nice to see green on a drive versus brown desert mountains like in California.  Once we Brescia it was beautiful!  There was this beautiful old castle up on the hillside.  Also there was another green mountainside that had all of these beautiful little houses on it.  I guess it was the alps because I read somewhere that Bresica is a small city at the foot of the alps.  So now I can say I have been to the Alps!  Ali was going there to buy a car for business but his license isn't valid in Italy.  Soooo the car happened to be automatic, which is rare in Italy,  and I have been dying to drive, therefore I got to drive the car back.  Yay!!  I was so happy to get to drive.  I got to drive an 2007 Audi.  Not sure what type.  I was a little nervous to drive in Italy though.  But it all worked out.  I am pretty sure I gave Ali a heart attack though because in the first 30 seconds I was driving the car I almost got in an accident.  I accidentally cut someone off because I didn't see them coming off the roundabout.  I would have totally been fucked if I crashed the car because they had just spent 8000 Euro on it.  They must trust me a lot.  At first I was terrified when I was driving because of the roundabouts.  We don't have them in California so it was hard getting adjusted.  Every time you come to a roundabout if there is a car on it already you don't enter unless they are in front or going straight.  But sometimes it is hard to tell if they are going straight.  So basically the whole car ride home I was getting having "Dai, Dai, Dai!!!" yelled at me.  Which means "Go, Go, Go!!!"  But we made it back safely and the driver of the car we went took there said that I was a good driver.  So now I know I am capable of driving in Italy.  Go me! Thursday evening I visited with my friend Angelina and we tried to plan some trips.
Friday I woke up and went to the campus to take care of some school stuff.  The way they register for classes is so strange.  It is like the DMV.  I had a problem too because they didn't understand my program.  Therefore they were yelling to people at the other side of the room asking questions about me.  That was a real fun experience, having a huge crowd of people staring at me because I am the strange foreigner.  Not that they weren't staring at me before because I was wearing a skirt even though it is about 70 degrees out.  Because apparently it is still freezing and we all need to be wearing winter coats in Italy. Loro sono pazzi! (They are crazy!) Afterwords I went to a little festival that is being held in Pavia this weekend.  It is a Sicilan festival and it was amazing!  They had a million cheeses and sun dried tomatoes and bread.  I didn't buy anything because it is all weekend long but I think I will buy a lot because it is amazing!!! They have a lot of embroidery stands for touristy places and they will embroider your name or a phrase and cloth and this guy asked me what my name was and did it for me on a piece of paper.  At first he messed up my name and but Allie instead of Kellie.  But it worked out because I was with Ali...which is kind of the same. Haha. Then my friend Angelina called me and said that she was going to go to Milano. So I decided to go meet her there.  But first I wanted to stop at home so I could grab my purse.  Little did I know what a problem this would cause. They have recently changed the door system where I live and now you need an electronic key to get in.  I didn't have my electronic key thing so I borrowed Ali's.  Now we all know that I have incredibly sweaty hands.  Which is not a good combination for holding things.  As I was getting in the elevator the keys happened to slip out of my slippery sweaty hands.  But this wasn't just any old regular drop of the keys on the ground.  Just my luck,  I was standing over the crack of the elevator.  My hands became even sweatier as I watched the keys slide down the crack.  As I heard the keys fall to the seemingly bottomless pit of the elevator I thought "Oh Fuck." Not only was I in a mess because I dropped the keys down the elevator shaft, but 1.  The keys were not mine & 2. No one that spoke Italian was around so I would have to definitely try my Italian skills out.  It is funny how you come to learn the words for certain things.  I didn't know the word for dropped but I sure do now!   I thought to myself "Ok, what vocabulary do I know that can get me through this situation?"  As I was walking to the front desk I realized what a dumbass I was about to sound like, but luckily I was able to describe my situation.  I told Margherita, the front desk lady,  about how "I lost the keys in the elevator."  She said it wasn't a problem, that they could come and get them out but I must pay 10 Euros.  She asked me if my room was open and I told her yes, but that is not really the biggest problem.  The problem is that the keys aren't mine, they are Ali's, his room is locked, and my keys are in his room.  This is when Margherita started laughing.  She said "Oh!  It's not a problem for you then.  He must pay the 10 Euro!"  I told her that I would pay for it.  But there is another problem.  Ali wasn't at Golgi (where we live) but at the call center and I didn't know when he was coming back and that I was leaving to go to Milano.  She said it wasn't a problem just have him stop by her desk and she will give him the keys.  Then it seemed like the problem would be resolved.  Unfortunately, it is important to remember that I am in Italy.  It is not like America, where if you have a problem the most you will have to wait is probably a night.  Oh no....we are in Italy, I think perhaps one of the least working countries known to man. So this created another problem because the key incident occurred on a Friday afternoon.  I guess weekends start fairly early, say 1pm, in the afternoon and there is not really the option of weekend assistance.  Thus in conclusion of this ridiculous story,  we have yet to receive the keys because it is not yet Monday and the Italians never work on the weekends, therefore we have been sharing keys to enter the building for a few days now.  Who knows....maybe we won't even get them until Monday evening because Italians also like to continue their weekend until about 3:30 pm.  I guess they like to ease into their work week which is quite nice for them, not so nice for others.
Finally after the delay of the key incident,  I made it to the train station to continue on to Milano.  I went to one of the suburban train stations and took the metro because it was cheaper and more time efficient.  I met up with my friends Angelina, Emilia, and Marcin.  Emilia was on the hunt for a dress  so the others were helping them.  We all know that I am much like Becky Bloomwood,  star of Confessions of a Shopaholic, so going into stores while others are shopping is like torture for me.  I hung with them for a bit but then met up with my friend Lucia.  Lucia was going to a museum next to the Duomo, right next to where I was.  So I met with Lucia and her friend Marta.  I enjoyed the museum because some of it was interactive.  They had this black box that you could go in and inside where there were a ton of full length rotating mirrors and the floor was checkered green and red while strobe lights were going on.  Maybe some person tripping on acid had designed it.  My favorite thing though was an embroidered world map and for each country the whole country was done in their flag.  It was so cool.  I wish I could have one in my house! After the museum I tried to go into the Duomo to say hello to my friend Valeria that works there but they wouldn't let me in because I was wearing a skirt.  It wasn't even a super short skirt!  But I guess your legs down to your knees must be covered.  Also your shoulders must be covered.  So I didn't get a chance to say hello to Valeria. :(  Next time! Afterwords Lucia and I met up with her friend Chiara, who I had met last week.  Chiara was so happy because she had just found out that she was accepted to study in Paris as an exchange student.  We went to Chiara's school and she said hello to a friend and then we went to Arnold's Coffee, a rip off of Starbucks. It is the only place in Italy that I have found Chai Tea though, so I was pretty excited that I could get my Chai Tea fix. Then, Angelina, Emilia & Marcin came to meet us at the coffee shop.  We didn't stay for much longer.  Lucia and Chiara invited me out to celebrate Chiara's acceptance to Paris, but I would have either had to sleep on the floor in Lucia's room or come home early by myself at the 12:25 a.m. train.  While I would love to stay out and celebrate, it was choosing between a restless night sleep and a messed up neck all day, going home with the crazy weirdos on the train in the middle of the night, or just going home early.  Option C?  I think so.  So then I ended up having a little party on Angelina's floor with Angelina,  Eleni,  Marcin, and Fabien.  It was nice we just hung out and had some drinks and played a movie trivia game.
Yesterday was a nice day.  I went to the Certosa di Pavia with a group of friends.  There was Sarah, Marcin, Angelina, Tucge, Fabien, Visillius, Benjamin, and me.   The Certosa is a famous old monastery.   It was gorgeous inside.   I forgot that they might not let you in also and I was stupid and wore shorts.  But luckily my friend had a sweater so I tied it around my waist and buttoned it in the front.  I looked super awesome.  It was nice to go around there.  Afterwords we walked to the little village of the Certosa.  There wasn't much to be seen in the village.  On the walk back though I nearly died of a heart attack.  My friend Sarah and I were walking and out of nowhere this dog comes leaping towards us barking its head off.  I was extremely startled and screamed like a maniac.  It jumped up at the gate and was barking so loudly.  Sarah is already terrified of dogs too.  We grabbed each other and were screaming.  Everyone that was with us got a good laugh though.  Then we came back on the train.  Everyone went to the center to go have a coffee.  I went back to where we live to change really quickly and then met them.  When I met everyone we were also joined by Clinton, one of the other Americans, and Ali.  Everyone enjoyed their coffee, and I my tea for a while.  Then Sarah, Ali, and I went to the Sicilian festival.  Che bella!!!!!  There were sun dried tomatoes, garlic, special cheese, olives, canoli, arancini (fried rice balls), and a ton of other stuff.  I was in heaven!! Too bad my wallet couldn't afford it.  The sun dried tomatoes cost 35 Euro/Kilo.  So expensive! You would think they were tomatoes sprinkled with special anti aging fairy dust or something.   The garlic was expensive as well.  We wanted to cook dinner with some of the stuff from there but most of it was too expensive.  I did buy some garlic though and used it in my pasta. :)  It is delicious!  I also bought some cheese, two canoli, an arancini, and a panzerotti, which is kind of like a calzone with cheese and tomato.  All of it was worth it.  Much better than the pastry I bought at the chocolate festival last week. Then Ali, Sarah, and I returned back to our apartments so we could get ready for dinner.  Then we all met back up later with our friend Hassan to cook dinner.  The three of them taught me how to Lebanese dance, even though Sarah is from Morocco.  I was not so good at it.  It was fun to learn though. :)  After dinner we all went back to our apartments to go to sleep after our long day.

And then there is today.  Sunday.  The most boring day of all in Pavia.  I hate Sundays!!!  I can't wait until Friday when Mama, Bear, and Olivia come.  Finally!!!! 

Sunny Days, Surprise Parties & Football Matches

The past few days haven't been very exciting.  I have mostly just been preparing for Mama, Bear, & Olivia to come visit.  Also I have been sitting outside every day with my friend Angelina. The weather here is becoming really nice.  We just sit outside at the bench and table for about an hour everyday.  I think it is perfect weather out for shorts and a tshirt but these crazy Italians do not agree.  Today I wore a skirt, tshirt, and sandals and the people looked at me like a freak.  It is about 70 degrees out and they are wearing cold weather winter snow coats.  They are nuts! The most exciting thing I have done this week is go to a surprise birthday party.  Eleni, one of my Greek friends, had a birthday this week so we threw a party for her at a bar we frequent quite often.  There were about fifteen of us there.  The bar has a downstairs area underground so we all hid there.  It was fun.  Also I finally had a margarita here since I am going through margarita withdraw.  Definitely not as good as Ponce's though.  I miss Ponce's soooooooooo much.  Burritos & Margaritas.  I would kill for them right now! But the rest of the party was nice.  Other than that nothing to exciting.  Today I went to the big store Bennet.  It is kind of like a Walmart.  I went to go look for an air mattress for when I have visitors but I guess Italians don't understand the concept of an air mattress.  Their "air mattress" is actually the size of a crib mattress.  Not portable AT ALL.  It is in a huge box and does not compact.  I have no clue who decided to call this thing an air mattress but it is definitely not an air mattress.  After going to Bennet I went to eat at the mensa.  I had a pizza.  That is one thing that is nice about the mensa.  They will make you a fresh pizza with grilled vegetables.  They roll out the dough in front of you and everything.  After the mensa  I got to experience watching real Italian "football" (soccer) game.  There was a big game Milano vs.  Barcelona.  It was more entertaining to be around the viewers than to watch the actual game.  A bunch of crazy Italians/other exchange students screaming at the t.v.  See in Italy, many, many people bet on soccer therefore they have more at stake than pure pleasure of watching their favorite team play.  Thus every moment of the soccer game counts.  Anyways, it was entertaining watching everyone scream at the tv like crazy people.  Now I will go to bed because tomorrow I am going to Brescia!  I am going there because my friend is picking up a car for business and I get to drive the car back.  I am sooooo excitied to drive.  I am going to drive some sort of Audi on a drive about the same distance as San Diego to L.A.  Can't wait!!!!

Principessa Kellie

This week I was Princess Kellie for sure.  I had a very funny evening.  I don't think I have laughed so much in a very long time.  Earlier this week I finally went to the Lebanese restaurant that I have been wanting to go to for two weeks.  It was awesome!! Yet it was funny at the same time because  Ali and I were the only people in the entire restaurant.  Seeing that I am American,  I like to eat dinner at a reasonable hour, say 7 or so.  Thus, there was no problem getting a table at the restaurant because I am one of the only ones in Italy that actually eats at 7.  We were joking the whole time we were in the restaurant that we were to loud and disturbing all of the other paying customers.   The nice thing about going to a Lebanese restaurant with a Lebanese person is you get the special treatment.  Meaning,  they bring you all the best things and they don't charge you for everything.  Princess moment number #1.  Anyways after dinner we went to go watch a movie with our friends.  I think one of the funniest things I've ever dealt with is trying to pick a movie between a bunch of foreigners.  What language do you choose?  Arabic,  French,  English,  Italian?  First we attempted to watch an American film but it was dubbed in French.  Everyone understood for the most part except me.  Then we tried to find another movie but they were all in Spanish so I was the only one that could understand.  Finally we found an Italian movie we could watch.   Yet there was one problem.  It was actually in dialect so none of us really understood it.  We decided next time we watch a movie we should just watch one in Chinese so none of us can understand it. Hahahaha.   In the end we ended up not watching a movie and all just going home to sleep.
Thursday was NOT a day of princess moments.  It did not start off very well.  I woke up and I was going to class and missed the bus by about 2 minutes  So I briskly walked to class and made it just in time.  After class I decided it was a nice day out so I would stroll on back to my room.  I stopped along the way at a nice bench in the sun to finish my book.   When I returned home a group of 4 of my friends were going to go to the mensa and invited me.  I went with Ali,  Sara, Hasan, & Fabrizio.  Unfortunately the mensa that they chose to go to, again, only had pork and fish.  So instead I got some special cheese.  Which seems like a princessy kind of thing, to have a special menu.  But I guess that is just true Kellie because as Papa says I always have to have the "special menu with the fufu ingredients."  But as I was eating my meal I found that I had a special ingredient all right....a nice hair! Delicious right? That being said,  I will NOT be returning to that mensa.   After the mensa  I played foozball for a bit with Fabrizio,  Fabiola, & Ali.  If it weren't for partners I would be creamed in foozball.  They play so rough!  I actually was injured the other day when playing foozball.  Not really injured, more like hurt I guess.  They were spinning the little men so fast and hard that they hit the ball and it flew up off of the table and hit yours truly in the head.  Lucky me!  After foozball I didn't have a very exciting rest of the day.  I was going to go out to Portopeo but I felt like I was starting to get a cold so I slept early instead.
On Friday, I had a very relaxing day.  I knew that I was going to go to Milano for the weekend so I took it easy.  I just hung out in the morning and then went to the mensa in the afternoon with Andrew, Ali, & Marcin.  I like Fridays at the mensa because they have gelato.  Mmmmm.  After the mensa I went to the river to go read.  It is so nice living in a place where they have seasons.  It is amazing to see everything change from being completely covered in snow to being so green.  A ton of trees now have beautiful flowers on them as well.  It is really nice to sit outside and enjoy nature.  I think when I return to San Diego I will really miss living in a place where they have seasons.  I am happy that I finally got to live somewhere where they have seasons though.  It was on my bucket list to live somewhere with seasons so now I can finally cross it off!  In the evening I just went to the mensa and then came home and relaxed.
On Saturday, I began my wonderful Milano adventure.  Unfortunately it turned out to be a costly start.  There are two types of trains that go to Milano from Pavia,  regional and inter city.  The regional train costs 3.75 Euro and the inter city costs 7.00 Euro.  I was going to take the inter city train because it was the only one that was leaving at the moment.  I was running really behind though and my friend said that I could just buy my ticket on the train rather than waiting in line to buy from the machine.  So I rushed and got on the train and looked for the train conductor.  Apparently you can buy a ticket on the train but it will REALLY cost you.  I had to pay 57.00 Euro because I didn't have a "reservation."  I was so pissed off and I am getting pissed off now just writing about it.   So,  in order to avoid being angry the rest of this blog I will be moving on to the rest of my day.

When I arrived in Milano I met Lucia and her friend Federica.  Lucia was an exchange student that we had in 2008.  I am so glad that she lived at our house and I could come visit her in her home country!  In the station the three of us had a little breakfast.  Afterwords we went to the "host house" that I was going to stay at.  I guess the shower at Lucia's house was broken so they paid for me to stay there.  It was one of the cutest places I have ever been.  It used to be a house centuries ago but now it is converted into kind of like a bed and breakfast.  They only have three rooms there though.  The people there were very friendly and nice.  After I checked in there Lucia, Federica and I went to meet a girl named Sara.  Sara is a friend of Lucia.  Then the four of us went to another city called Monza.  Monza is home to one of the biggest parks in Europe.  I learned that the park was a summer estate of one of the queens.  At the park there are lakes with swans and ducks,  some restaurants,  play area for kids, a stable and who knows what else.  There was no way I could have seen all of the park.  It was so busy and crowded as well.  So many soccer games were going on! We hung out in the park for a bit and then took a small tour of Monza.  We went to see some ancient Roman ruins near a famous bridge in Monza called Lions Bridge. Afterwords we went to a gelateria/creperie.  One of my princess moments where they paid for me.  I didn't know though and then I said "I have money! You didn't have to pay," and they all thought it was hilarious and laughed.  Most of the weekend I didn't pay for anything actually because they all wanted to pay for me.  Even people I just met.  After that we went back home and took showers and got ready for the evening.   Then I went to Lucia's house which is amazing!!  There is this famous arch called Garibaldi in Milan and she lives literally right next to it.  It also was Lucia's brother's 18th birthday so they were having a party for his friends there.  Her parents had bought a ton of food so we had dinner there.  Afterwords Lucia and I went to this area called the collone.  Its basically a huge area next to some old columns where people stand around and drink.  It was super overwhelming!  These people started getting in a fight in the middle of the square and throwing glass bottles at each other.  One guy got a glass bottle in the head.  It was scary because glass was flying everywhere and I was afraid that it was going to hit me.  But everyone one I was with thought it was funny that I was scared because apparently that is a really normal thing in Milano.  Not something I would want to have be a regular occurrence in a place that I got to hang out! We were supposed to go to a club after called Hollywood.  I guess it is one of the best clubs in Italy and it is super hard to get into.  It also costs between 50-80 Euro just to get in buuuut we have the hook up.  One of Lucia's best friends is dating the son of Michael Bongiorno, a famous tv presenter.  I guess he was kind of like Alex Trebek because he was the host on Italy's first tv game shows and other shows.   I have never heard of him but I guess he was really famous....so his son is also famous and gets the A-List treatment. I guess he is some sort of entrepreneur and owns a whole chain of restaurants and has been in commercials as well.  We were going to get to go to the club but he didn't feel like going.  I didn't realize I was talking to the son but I guess I was hanging out with him most of the night and talking to him, another Italian guy, and a girl from Sweden.  They bought all our drinks too.  I guess I know the right people in Milano!  Afterwords when we left Lucia took me back to the hotel in the Benz.   She didn't drink though so don't worry!  But she took the long way home and showed me all around Milano at night.  It was gorgeous.  Half the time I am doing things hear I feel like I am in a movie.  It seems all so surreal being in this place where everything is so old and beautiful.   I feel so blessed to have this opportunity.  Anyways, after that I returned back to the host house to sleep.  The people that worked at the host house could hear when I got up in the morning because I was talking on the phone so they came to my room to tell me breakfast was ready.  I thought okay I will go down in a few minutes and there will also be other people too.  But no!  This was one of the moments where I definitely felt like a princess.  I went downstairs in this adorable old house and there was a huge table, kind of like the one in my dining room at home and there was one place setting just for me.  There was a whole tray of juices I could choose from, a basket of croissants, four baskets of different things I could put on the croissants like jelly, fresh yogurt in glass jars, 16 types of tea,  pastries, cereal, cold milk, and coffee.  They had set it all up just for me.  I felt so special! Just like a princess.  Everything was in glass and porcelain dishes.  After breakfast I went to the huge park near the famous arch and near the castle to go read until Lucia woke up.  Then Lucia, her brother, parents and I went out to lunch.  It was a true Italian lunch....long and with a bottle of wine.  It was a very nice lunch together.  Afterwords Lucia's friend, Chiara, met us.  We then went on a walk through the park and to the castle where I met my Greek friend Angelina.  Angelina had remembered that I was going to be in Milano and she was in Milano with her parents before they caught their plane back to Greece so she called me up and met us. :)  Once Angelina joined us we continued on to a neighborhood called Brera.  It was soooo cute!  Just what I imagined Italy would look like.  In Brera we ate some delicious pastries that are common of French cuisine.  They were delicious in Italy so I am sure they are amazing in France.  Hopefully I will get to go to France and try them!  After Brera Lucia and Chiara drove Angelina and I to the train station so that we could come back to Pavia.  Then I rested for the evening. :)