italy bitaly

ciao italy...

2011-07-29T10:08:00.000-05:00

ciao blog.

i don't think i'll ever be somewhere this awesome
and i don't think i'll have enough time to blog in normal life
so, i'm signing off with this post:

we had our last hoorah on thursday night

here's our whole group
(notice the cam jersey we gave cinzia..."she's our hero!")

we cooked a gooood southern meal for all of our teachers
thanksgiving in july.
we were so happy.
you would have thought we hadn't eaten in months.
i woke up this morning with a stomach ache.
it was awesome.

tonight is my last night with kp as my roomie
we laughed a lot
and learned a lot
(sniffle)

the train explosion survivors
laura & carolina

we all pitched in to get cinzia a refrigerator for her birthday
she wants us to come sign it tonight
leaving my mark in italy

we all live in auburn
so we don't have to say goodbye
phew

but i will have to say goodbye to my little villa!
it was so good to us, kp
creatures & all

perfect little town
i'll miss it

but i can't wait to see these guys!

here's what i'm most excited about in the USA:

1. family & friends
2. chicken
3. not looking foreign
4. ice
5. reading signs

ciao ciao ciaooooo

gaudi gaudi gaudi

2011-07-26T16:33:00.000-05:00

thursday afternoon we went to mary lou and marco's for a pool partayyy

& dinner

amy, melissa, and leslie

cool pool

it was so pretty!

here is the view from the roof of my villa
i feel like i might miss this

dinaaaaa!

dogs are peeks best friends

ok on to the good stuff

barcelona

we ate at hardrock cafe

(terrible, we know. we miss america, ok??)

i love bbq

epic red

with a hamburger backdrop

then we shopped around at zara

super excited that there was a "home" section

except that means "men's" in catalan (barcelona language)

bummer

barcelona is funky

they just put cool things on their buildings

and it looks awesome

see what i mean??

walked down la rambla to the aquarium

we found a barcelona bench!

it's an adapted form of the barcelona chair

ps- it's margaret anne's twenty first birthday in this picture, woooooo!

and here we have the aquarium picture

pink

such a rebel

kate had a handheld gps

"back in my day.." leslie, amy, kaitlin you finish that phrase because i'm not qualified

gaudi's house!!

casa batllo

there are no straight lines in this house

i loved every part about it

back yard

crafty mosaics everywhere

natural lighting

he paid attention to every detail

even the handrails and window knobs

and here it is by night!

we ate dinner at this awesome place

called the beefshop

check out this bowl

and the best fried rice i've ever eaten

time out (chuckle)

kaitlin and i have matching watches

apparently they're the new thing

so, when these become popular, remember us

.*~*kaitlin & lauren forever*~*.

gelato

in the shape of a flower!!

street vendor

he's so cute

abby, back me up here

saturday morning we went to the beach!

it was a perfect day

there were a lot of topless women

it's a cultural thing

so i'm not posting pictures

then we went to the sagrada familia

been under construction since 1882

anddd won't be completed until 2025

when i'm thirty five years old

inside

ceiling

had to

we love gaudi

look at how different the materials look

that's what you get for taking centuries to build one church

reds love gaudi, too

reds also love to rollerblade

with red pigtails

and purple socks

sunday we went to the gaudi park!

basically any cool thing in the entire city was designed by gaudi

the park had such a pretty view of the whole city

perfect end to a funky trip

peace love barcelona

ciao a tutti

dramatic post

2011-07-26T04:07:00.000-05:00

i thought i was going to die.

looking back, i don't think i was in that much danger...

but when you hear an engine accelerating and don't feel the train moving

then you see smoke and sparks and the lights start popping

and the italians start freaking out and running to the front of the train

you panic slightly

i was scared, but i was excited about being with jesus forever if that train exploded

i guess i'll hang around here until He's really ready to take me

tuesday we went to the american cemetery & memorial in anzio

front entrance

there are over 7,861 american ww2 soldiers buried here

which accounts for only 35% of the men who died trying to liberate rome

nostalgia is building up

haven't seen the homeland in over 80 days

dear madalyn, maybe you could recite the constitution to me with your "we the people" skills when i get home

this chapel lists the names of soldiers who were never found

3,095 missing

many headstones were unidentified

next we went to the cost for the afternoon
the same beach that the american troops landed

wednesday night mary lou taught us how to cook a south african dish

it's called...bobotie

ground beef + rice + almonds + bananas + cucumbers + peppers + raisins + jam + coconut + a lot of other things

surprisingly, it's so good.

wednesday night we went to a ballet at the caracalla baths

(the ancient thermal bath ruins in rome)

cool venue, eh?

the italians say, "termal bats"

we saw swan lake
it was beautiful

we also saw this one of a kind jacket there

why. why. why.

that's all for now!

barcelona coming soon...

ciao

malogna and bilan

2011-07-16T16:49:00.000-05:00

ok fine.
balogna & milan

first we stopped at the ferrari museum
their street cars go 0-110 in 3 seconds
geez louise

here's a winner
(like it literally won)

next we spent a night in bologna

my favorite part was seeing this melted ice sculpture
that's funny

leslie's boyfriend, joseph, didn't tell her he'd be in bologna
rude
see, it looks JUST like him

then we ate gelato popsicles
italians gettin' crazy

the next day we stopped to see how balsamic vinaigrette is made

they use these here barrels

for a LONG time
notice the "1952" label

we got to taste some after our tour
(it's not like the balsamic vinaigrette i'm used to.
much thicker & sweeter & more acidic, all at the same time)

over ice-cream
goooooooooood

we finally made it to milan

& saw the 3rd duomo of our trip
this one took 6 centuries to build

next door is the world's first mall
(or so we think..)

& here i am inside spinning around 3 times on some dip in the floor
that brings you good luck.
probably just another way to make tourists look like fools

then we shopped around and had appetizers and pretty drinks at a place called Frank. delicious!

next day:

meet massimo
he knows a lot about design
therefore, he was our guide for the next 2 days

he has a piece of the duomo in the backyard of his office
hello. the duomo.
apparently every fifty years the statues have to be replaced

first he took us to a vintage/modern design shop called:

dear quad friends, don't let these letters conjure feelings of tiresome walking to the far far far parking lot

they made new things out of old stuff
novel idea

bizarre things too

next we went to this little villa built in the 20th century

typical 50's bathroom

hipsta red
pump the breaks

massimo took us to this museum
it opened really recently

saw some picasso

and other modern art
hmm.

the museum had a great view of the duomo

the next day massimo took the interior design girls to some showrooms

modern lighting

furniture

looney's favorite chair & lamp in cappellini

the only thing we didn't see were milano cookies and bologna meat

you can't have it all

ciao ciao

dub it up

2011-07-10T17:37:00.052-05:00

ladies and gents, i give you

dublin, ireland

safety information on a ryanair flight

notice the necessity to take out your dentures in case of emergency

hmm, what's that language written above english?
irish. yeah, it exists

sadly, we didn't visit

dear em, i found your street
or your lane

we visited the guinness beer storehouse

here is the lease that arthur guinness signed for 9000 years
clever

the tour was semi-interactive
so here we are standing in front of a waterfall demonstrating
how their pure water comes from the mountains

reds like guinness
i don't

i learned how to "pour my own pint"
that i refused to drink

dear anna, i loved our big/little bonding
some big's and little's go out to lunch (which we do occasionally)
we also learn how to "pour the perfect pint" in ireland together

hello, dublin

tried the heel click jumping pic

love this one of kp

that night we went to whelan's
which is the pub from p.s. i love you
cool

the next day we visited an irish market
plenty of potatoes, of course

the fight jump

we went on a walking tour with dave
he's not as good as fiona from france

cool grass
just thought you'd like to see it

this building was built on top of some viking remains
which were therefore ruined
how thoughtless

the famous temple bar

with live entertainment

a statue representing the potato famine
i love it

a new one
a male red

we went to howth for the evening
dublin harbor / irish sea area

we took sailor jumping pics,
obviously

a sea lion
look at his ears

dad, here's a map for orientation's sake

this is exactly how i pictured ireland would be

anna and me

we ate dinner at "the bloody stream"
sounds gross, but it was gooooodddd

then we watched the sun set over the harbor

when we got back we decided to find a cool pub
success
live irish music. boom.

the next morning we went to see the book of kells (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells)
and avoided this massive line
irish people don't know about the early bird and the worm thing

strolling in a dublin park
and jumping around some

nice find

red pants and hair

and there you have it:

dublin.

cheers!

ten things i love about italy

2011-07-07T11:50:00.000-05:00

& more

1. gelato

2. bells chiming

3. architecture

4. time to read

5. gnocchi
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEydjTWcMeXmAZwp76C2uDMuDOrwsMb6mLE-FnITfA1iOUUYWa8sEQAmJIz0w9_fJoLftPnNc0qrJF0gmAUxzukOjKEXtpFN16l6snhmGLtjVYXuMuYNiDOg82WcS0gOhiLkamte1Zcs/s1600/gnocchi1.jpg)

6. the countryside

7. reds

8. cheap fruit

9. peek

10. cappuccinos

on tuesday we went to the world food program headquarters in rome

i left feeling both encouraged & discouraged

i'm thankful that the world food program is willing to take on such a huge task

the work they're doing makes a big impact

sometimes it's hard for me to remember how much good is being done when there is so much left to be done

we've been learning our italian with a game called "free rice"

with each answer you get right 10 grains of rice are donated to wfp

http://freerice.com/

afterwards we visited Tirelli

a huge theater & cinema costume workshop

15,000+ pieces

costumes from the movie troy

some costumes pulled aside for a play

andrea sorrentino gave us a tour

he came to give a lecture the next day in ariccia

i learned about high end fashion

giovanni, armani, and others

i heard she's famous

neat, huh?

july's gonna fly

2011-07-06T18:13:00.000-05:00

i can already tell

i had a little visitor this weekend!

alex just spent 6 weeks in south africa
working with a ministry called living hope

he stopped by to see me for a few days on his way home

we ran to st. peter's basilica

didn't make it in time

took the picture anyway

then we got gelato
& made a big mess on the sidewalk
dear betsy, gelato is better than ice cream. it's seems impossible, i know.

then we went to the vatican
with really long legs?

there was no crowd.
so
rare

dear abby, can you walk like an egyptian yet?

finally got to see castel st. angelo
i was the "expert of the day" of this building last month
we didn't get to see it as a group
so this was fun for me

italian cappuccino
dear matt & sarah, if i could ship them to america for you i would

colosseum
it's colossal

thumbs up for the roman forum
watch this:
thumbs up for rock & roll

we found a wedding
on accident
the church was open & had tons of tourists in the back
hmm. weird.

al found some good reds

& he's only a novice

next we went to the pantheon

dear caroline, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome

in europe all the men have bags

"murses," if you will

alex didn't bring one so i let him borrow for a minute

europe has great water fountains

they're old, pretty, & don't have gum stuck to them

hooray

next we went to gianicolo hill
great view

made it to the inside of st. peter's
3 war eagle moments in that basilica
"i wore this shirt for a reason" -alex

the st. peter's foot tradition is described below:

spanish steps were alex's favorite...

not

they were so crowded

trevi fountain

we successfully mastered the "will you take a picture of us?" approach methods

1. offer to take a picture of solo shooters & then ask them to return the favor

2. look around hopelessly until someone offers

3. just ask someone (usually with a fancy camera) to take your picture

4. take it yourself & crop your arm out later

it's a science, really

ate dinner at this neat restaurant

best. calzone. ever.

and then

it was july fourth

in italy

we wouldn't let it go un-celebrated..

so we wore our patriotic clothes

for our cooking class with mary lou

she grew up in south africa, so she enjoyed getting to talk to alex

she taught us how to make shellfish pasta

yum

then we grilled hotdogs at peek's house for dinner

with the sorriest grill i've ever seen

it required constant fanning

it was a great fourth

the only thing missing was fireworks

ciao for now

ps: good ole kaitlin barton has a blog you should check out

same stuff, better detail

thought you might be interested:

http://kaitlinbarton.wordpress.com/

keats, ninfa, & levitation

2011-06-30T14:32:00.000-05:00

monday we learned all about john keats

[review: english poet in early 19th century who died of tuberculosis in rome at an early age. "ode to a nightingale" "ode to a grecian urn" etc.]

keats died here

now it's a museum

right next to the spanish steps

there are locks of his hair on display

gross

the bedroom where he died

and his death mask

so next, we went to see his grave

prettiest cemetery i've ever seen

keats' grave

nameless

the movie bright star says

he died "feeling like a failure"

his poet pal percy was buried close by

next we went to a design exhibition

weird wooden sink

today (thursday)

we went to the ninfa gardens

it used to be a medieval town

there are plants from all over the world here

perfect climate

dear betsy, this plant reminds me of you

it's from south america

laura

the sprinklers were tricky to navigate

bamboo from vietnam

amy filled up her water bottle with

real spring water

lesloo

next we toured another winery

& had a wine tasting

then we took fun pictures in front of the vineyards

this is what we were going for:

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/the-girl-who-loves-to-levitate

success

i saw london

2011-06-27T17:27:00.000-05:00

i saw france!

we had our midterm break last week

melissa, leslie, amy, and i went on an adventure

kaitlin and margaret anne were there for parts of it

all 6 of us piled into a cab from the airport

on the wrong side of the road

here's our "hostel" for the first night

it was like the holiday, literally

it was raining and a sweet british lady ushered us in to this small cottage

with a fire crackling

and showed us to our little room

all 6 of us have blonde hair.

the portuguese we met there found this hilarious

they loved poking fun of us

here is our friend, ella

she speaks with a british accent

we almost took her with us

we rode some double decker busses.

always on the second level

here is our next hostel

in camden

which was a weird place

but we loved it

triple bunkbeds & curtains

coooool

the first day we did a lot of walking

and stumbled upon quite a few things

had to

hey big ben

westminster abbey

william & kate got hitched here

and again

loved navigating the "tube"

never been so thankful for english

please notice the number of lines available

there are 2 in rome

the gate to buckingham palace

fancy shmancy

if you jump the gate

you answer to this guy

yikes

buckingham palace with mel

queen wasn't home

shucks

the "gherkin"

thank you, norman foster

the london bridge

big let down

the next day we checked out some markets

and ate asian food

you don't realize how much you miss it until it's gone

we love nutella

dear emily, it reminds me of your love for peanut butter

the lookout on primrose hill

it started raining soon after

note the storm clouds...

my friends from mary poppins

dear reb, we needed your 5th grade costume

or just you in general

so we went for some afternoon tea

it came in a teapot

no lie

the next day...

we saw the tate modern art museum

it was free

there is a room dedicated to this pile of sunflower seeds

they were hand-painted & sentimental

but still...sometimes i don't understand modern art

we also saw picasso

interesting

next, we saw a show at the globe theater

much ado about nothing

starring the butler from fresh prince

geoffrey

fact of the day:

london has more trees per person

than any other city of its size

we love nature

ate fish&chips for dinner

delicious!

fyi...

"chips" are french fries

"crisps" are chips

walked along the thames to the tower bridge

much more impressive than the london bridge

the next day we started out on abbey road

yes, the line of cars behind us did lay on their horns

sorry we're not sorry

got to eat lunch with katherine on her break! (she's so grown up)

ate bangers&mash (sausage & mashed potatoes)

so good

loved loved loved getting to see her

next we made our way to shepherd's bush for

the avett brothers' concert

an avett with his fans

yes, i'm now a fan

sorry i hated on you guys

then went to sleep around midnight

& woke up around 3:40

eeeek

we took a eurostar train to paris in the wee hours of the morning

under the english channel

i was asleep

i don't know what it looked like

due to our exhaustion

we spent that day wandering around paris

and napping by the river

except this bridge smelled like pee when the wind blew the wrong way

gross

oh and we went to a famous little bookstore

shakespeare and company

our tiny towels at the paris hostel

dear kaki, i had to put a rubber band around my towel head to keep it on

i learn from the best

the next morning we explored

me & ames outside notre dame

our experience inside notre dame:

we took a free tour around paris

well, it was a tip only type thing

our tour guide, fiona

and she's from scotland

sound familiar? you're thinking of shrek.

amy, leslie, kaitlin, me and melissa outside the lourve

the mona lisa is tiny

here is an excerpt of fiona's tour

here are some of the chairs she was talking about

beautiful gardens in paris

london has more trees per person than
any other city of its size
we love nature

hello
purple hair

arc de triomphe
no one in the world has car insurance around this guy
there are no signs, lights, or markings on the road
a car bumps another about every 30 seconds
riding through that area in our taxi on saturday morning was
exhilarating

nutella crepe
could have eaten 20 of those

look how grown up we are
we use maps

so, this is what i thought the eiffel tower did at night
pretty pretty

but it also sparkles every hour!

who knew

perfect way to end our break

vatican

2011-06-25T08:46:00.000-05:00

schmatican

we got to see it on the 13th!
here's a short rundown

had a wicked audio tour
with one earpiece

with our tour guide, susanna
my favorite teacher

ta daaaaaa
st. peter's, y'all

saw a statue of an ancient actor with...
a microphone mask
dear leb, please never get one of these.

saw the sistine chapel ceiling
thank you, michelangelo

and st. peter's basilica's ceiling
with bernini's little canopy there on the right

i'm not sure who this is
sweet britches

saw st. peter's basilica from the other side
(every painting inside is a mosaic
apparently they last longer)

and learned that when you stand on this circle in the plaza..

all of the columns in front of you line up perfectly
*disclaimer* i wasn't standing on the circle here

woooo vatican vatican

ciao

and last week...

2011-06-15T12:58:00.001-05:00

...continues

the whole group on ponte vecchio
a famous "old bridge" over the arno river in florence
been there since 996

view of the whole bridge
there are a bunch of little shops!
all diamonds..we didn't go inside

next we took a train to cinque terre ("the 5 lands") for the weekend
a string of 5 towns on the coast

when we got there we saw a movie being filmed!
i liked watching the director girl walking around saying, "azione!"

we went hiking the next morning

probably the most beautiful hike i've ever been on

our guide, marco

he loves nature

we stopped to eat lunch on the trail

pretty good view, i guess

war eagle

love these moments

this is the only town (of the 5) that has a pebbled beach

created by a landslide

we walked down "lovers' lane"

lovers come to put their locks all down the lane

here's how they do farming in cinque terre

mostly grapes, of course

some baby grapes!

they also like to build houses basically on top of each other

i would too for a view like that..

we watched some baby birds eat lunch while we ate lunch

hey mad, could these little guys replace maggie in your life?

their beaks do kind of look like her cone head...

we stopped in pisa on the way back to ariccia

and took the cliche picture

gotta love it

you're welcome, alex

look forward to the next post...

vatican

ciao a tutti!

we spent a week in

2011-06-13T16:29:00.000-05:00

tuscany.

i love it! beautiful.

first we stopped at a resort

you can get a villa for $4500 a night

no big deal

the campus is 5 times the size of central park

the resort also has a winery from their own vineyards

the wine is aged in these barrels for 2-3 years

(apparently you can taste the wood from the barrel...i'm definitely no connoisseur)

ashley and me in the club members' wine storage room

dear all my nat-geo fans, i'm a wanna be

then we went to the town of montelcino

it's famous for its wine called "brunello di montalcino"

naturally i got a glass of wine to drink with my pb&j that i had packed for lunch

epic

dear reb, remember when you ate jelly sandwiches because you kept forgetting to buy pb?

next we headed to sienna...

wine tasting

1 white, 2 reds

i liked them all

the chigi palace in sienna

the latin above the well reads "reach for the stars"

or some equivalent

duomo of sienna

black & white marble stripes

dear melissa, i : ceilings :: you : flowers.

we climbed a million tiny stairs

to see...

a birds-eye view of sienna!

it reminds me of pinocchio (which by the way was set in italy)

the clock struck noon when we were up there

& the bells went wild

next we headed to florence

here is the duomo of florence & giotto's tower on the right

"duomo" just means italian cathedral

that's why there are so many of them

orsanmichele

a church that used to be a grain market

there are 14 niches with patron saint statues in each

i'm an expert on this place. ask me anything.

the "favid" -kaitlin (the fake david)

the real one is inside the accademia staying dry
good move dave
if david is that big, how big would goliath be?

this little boy was sketching next to all the artists
i almost stole him

we waited in line to see the duomo
and it started pouring down rain all of a sudden

here is the duomo from the inside
well, you really can't see much
whoops

then we saw a shoe museum

for the fashion girls

a lot of shoes in glass cases

then to the leather school

florence is the leather capital of the world
maybe

geppetto working on his ostrich leather purse

blogger is being weird, so i'll update again soon!

ciao ciao

mr. miles

2011-06-05T09:07:00.001-05:00

won the mayor election.

that's right, the new mayor of ariccia looks just like my middle school principal

i borrowed some pictures for this post from jenny and katherine w.
thanks, i'm sure y'all won't mind

we brought cianfanelli a bottle of wine as a congratulatory gift
the tag said, "war eagle"

maurizio (one of our teachers) bought us all campaign t-shirts!
they say, "i love ariccia" & have the ariccia cityscape in green

on friday night we had a party at the palace

we invited all our new friends from ariccia

dear kak and kel, i tried to be like y'all and cook for the party

sour cream doesn't exist here

so we used yogurt...it turned out ok!

after a half hour of trying to communicate, we broke out the phrase book

it was pretty fun

an italian magician was there

this guy really had the sweets for amy. she was so amused.

dear betsy, i was reminded of el dorado

saturday we went into rome for the day

we got on the wrong metro

but it was a good day!

and at the end of the day...believe it or not...

we ate at mcdonalds. at the train station. by eager choice.

burgers, fries, and ice in our cokes never tasted so good

this is my best friend rebekah playing the guitar

praise the lord for skype

praise the lord for italy, too

he is so good

ciao a tutti

"allora"

2011-06-02T14:47:00.000-05:00

that's the word of all words in italian
they say it ALL the time
it's basically a transition word
but we've caught on now

on tuesday we went to deruta and assisi

we went to a ceramics factory in deruta
it was actually really cool

working at the wheel
this is the most mechanical that the here process gets

they export to stores in america
you may have heard of them...
williams sanoma, saks, neiman marcus

here's an example:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/paysage-dinnerware/?pkey=ctblsrvcol

next we headed over to assisi

driving through italy is a treat
miles & miles of beautiful countryside

the main attraction: church of saint francis

dear zac, i saw a lot of slingshots for sale in assisi! it reminded me of you as a 7 year old killing bees with lima beans. and now you're driving a truck. where has the time gone?

meghan and me outside the church

peek & her redhead friend
actually this one was more of an orangehead
war eagle

we got an audio tour
check out our sweet blue one eared headphones

gotta love that rose window out front
no pictures were allowed inside
shoot

http://jssitaly.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/ssf-uccelli-l.jpg

here's st. francis "preaching to the birds"
giotto painted this on the back wall of the church. he's known as "the father of the renaissance"

our awesome, american tour guide
he's in the 3rd order society of st. francis

we usually pack our lunch for field trips
much cheaper than tourist food
we have plenty of time to taste italy elsewhere!

next we went to "civita di bagnoregio"
it used to be surrounded by rivers
so now it looks like this
dad, i think the sides look like the rock in the grand canyon. thanks for that family vacay

this is what surrounds the city now

a view from inside the city
sara, for some reason it reminds of montana
i've never even been there

katherine, aly, ashley, me, kaitlin, jenny, margaret anne

hipsta 10, kaitlin

just a random outbreak of tug of war
notice jenny, kaitlin, & peek joined in

next we went to orvieto

this is a new one
purple hair
to match the shirt

here is the well
you're looking up from inside the well

and here is looking down
from the same point
it got pretty cold down there

we saw one of the few gothic churches in italy
the stripes are made from light and dark marble

some side notes:

the hardest part about learning italian is
"ch" is pronounced like a "k"
and "ci" is pronounced like a "ch"
whyyyyyyyy

that's ok though, italians really struggle with the "th"in english
usually they just don't say that part at all
it doesn't exist in their language

that's all for now!
ciao ciao!

"vacation on vacation

2011-05-29T14:13:00.000-05:00

it's weird" - kaitlin

on tuesday we saw some more ruins

ostia antica

we played hide and "peek"

this is the bus that totes us around

and enrico, our driver

next we went to a glorified moundville

"The Etruscan site of Cerveteri. The Etruscan civilization flourished before Rome and deeply influenced the building of the Empire and its customs" says our itinerary.

the mounds hold tombs like this

Thursday we went to the Abbey of Montecassino & Pompeii

they have doves that look like turkeys

margaret anne, me, meredith, claire, meghan

the abbey was destroyed in world war two

a couple of things survived, but not much

please note the size of lemons in italy

unreal

positano

where we spent the weekend

the view from our bedroom

my dinner

it had eyeballs

our beach

made of pebbles

kaitlin and amy digging for jewels

treasure

we went to "music on the rocks"

basically a disco in a cliff

reb, you would have loved it

we went to capri on saturday

i found a redhead with a scrunchie bracelet wearing capris in capri

awesome

it was beautiful

had enough yet?

oh hey kaitlin

chinese restaurant

2011-05-23T15:09:00.002-05:00

great idea, right?

yeah we thought so too.

we tried to read the chinese translated to italian translated to english menu

which was a struggle

so we just ordered the safe classics: sesame chicken and orange chicken...

yes, that's soggy chicken soaked in orange juice

yes, it's was as gross as kaitlin's face suggests

even though it was awful, it was a great experience

that's one thing i've learned here...

things don't work how they're supposed to

but you just start to appreciate things for what they are

even if it's literally "orange chicken"

we spent the whole weekend in rome

the colosseum was amazing

we turned in our solo-shot project, so this might be your last one

the inside of the colosseum

below is the maze of trap doors/elevators

what the floor would look like is in the back

arch of constantine

and the sun

dear mom, this is why my feet were so dirty

rough terrain

the stones are about 3" high

notice that everyone is looking down so they don't break their necks

dear mal, i like to copy you

wildflowers

don't you wish ours were this pretty?

the roman forum

"ruins" became a funny word that day

dear em, i found your paradise

tons and tons of delicious, cheap fruit

(i know you don't see the strawberries, but they're there)

today i went to the market & bought 4 apples, 4 bananas, 1 peach, 1 plum, 1 mystery fruit (loquat?) & some green beans for 5 euros

our group in front of a statue of marcus aurelius on capitoline hill

we took this picture at about 5:00

it stays light here until 9

i have this weird liking for taking pictures of ceilings

this is the capitoline museum...

...which houses this incredibly famous statue

founders of rome, anyone?

back by popular demand

dear reb, sorry i'm not sorry

dear alex, happy birthday

today we went to see the schools in ariccia

dear cohort c, i kept thinking of y'all teaching little kids like this

this is a 1st grade class

i'm learning the same things as the first graders

cohort c, consider putting this on your word wall

if i could take some italian babies home, i would

precious girl reading to the class

i think i have 1/16th of her hair

and for today's finale..

red on red on red

dear katherine, please note her blue scrunchie (& matching nails)

i love italyyyyyy

ciao

war eagle moment

2011-05-19T14:52:00.005-05:00

we had a family reunion, y'all

dear mal, i think we share a lack of enthusiasm for that phrase
all i could think about was our flight to glendale...you know what i'm talking about.
hahahahahaha
war eagle, but really

we walked allllll over the rome today!
i'll post & explain some of my favorite pictures

rome is the hotspot for the redheads

jenny on the spanish steps
with her friend in the pink tank

dear betsy, no one speaks spanish on the spanish steps
but you would

the church at the top of the spanish steps

dear mally, you'd like this place
it's a coffee house that was established 250 years ago
john keats (the poetry guy) & the hans christian anderson (the thumbelina guy) got coffee here

and they wear tuxes to serve you coffee

a blue hair on a bike
literally

hey solo shot
with the column of marcus aurelius
built in 193 AD

it tells the story of the danubine wars

zac, see if dad will buy you an italian police car

trevi fountain
it's huge

it's also the hotspot for pick-pocketing

probably because everyone is reaching in their wallet to grab 3 coins to toss over their shoulder for good luck

3 in a row
jackpot

the pantheon
i saw it in real life
indescribable. unreal. favorite thing i've seen yet.

it's the largest unreinforced dome in the entire world
that's a hole in the ceiling (the oculus)

so what happens when it rains?
no big deal, the water just rolls out the front doors.

it's 1,931 years old

the sunspot from the oculus

peek and her redhead friend inside the pantheon

front doors of the pantheon
20 tons each
that was not a typo

probably the most vibrant redhead spotting today

i don't remember which one this is
they're all beginning to look the same

kate and me in front of the fountain of the four rivers

it was designed by bernini
basically he designed the whole city

dear zac, i found your girlfriend
nice catch

point made
i'll stop posting these shots
if you want more, i'll mosttt likely have an album dedicated to them on my computer.
redheadforlife

dear leslie & melissa, please remember that if you get arrested, the american embassy can only "bring you cookies"
thank you pre-departure class

national monument of victor emmanuel ii

it's entirely marble

mussolini gave his speeches here

another church

good natural lighting

amy, leslie and melissa with their metro (bus) passes

we were ready to go home

but we'll be back tomorrow

ciaooo

"obviously...

2011-05-18T15:06:00.001-05:00

these lion heads are gutters" -our tour guide at the catacombes

i was flattered by his assumption that we "obviously" knew some pretty unobvious things

this place was really cool

there are 80,000 underground graves dug out of volcanic rock
it had 4 different "floors"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Catacombe.jpg

we walked through hallway after hallway seeing holes in the walls like this
mom- you probably shouldn't go in there. you'll hyperventilate

melissa, amy, leslie and me outside the church that was built above the catacombes

rachel and me outside the same church
she's our gta for the trip
we share a love for italian cappuccino's

american embassy
god bless

we went to see bones
not a joke
the capuchin crypt

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1240/901488191_e28c9ded81_o.jpg
it was pretty, but it gave me the heebie jeebies

"mouth of the truth"
story goes, you put your hand in its mouth to see if you're telling the truth
you lie, you die
just kidding. you just lose a hand

peek wanted to keep her hand so she picked his nose instead

jenny & me
honest-folk

inside of the church next to the mouth of truth

dear hanyon, i found our triplet

this is an amphitheater
dad- the holes are from where the marble used to attach. it was completely covered in marble. the romans liked to recycle the marble and use it for their new buildings. you love facts.

part of the jewish ghetto

this is cinzia ("chin-zee-uh")

she's our translator/planner/mom/friend/hero

we love her

dear sarah cowart, i found your husband as a child

"mi chiamo ragazzo di mucca mike"

my name is cowboy mike

the tiber river

on the right is rome's only island- it's tiny

then my camera died

& i contemplated paying 5 euro for 4 batteries..nope

just look at kaitlin's blog to see our last stop

kaitlinbarton.wordpress.com

ciao ciao!

embarrassing

2011-05-17T17:22:00.000-05:00

today in italian class i had a few mispronunciations. i was innocently trying to say "busta" (bag) and "pane"(bread), and had some seriously inappropriate results.
very embarrassing
and hilarious
maybe i'll just stick to ciao for a little while longer...

we've been visiting the fruit stand for fresh, local apples oranges, bananas, and anything else you could want

here's a small section, notice the "busta" roll

juiciest oranges you'll ever eat

he noticed me taking pictures, so he posed
interesting choice
they kept saying "bella americana, bella americana"

i bravely ordered "fettucini to the porky mushrooms"
(you can tell they just typed the italian words on the menu into a translator to make an english version)
hilarious
america has better mushrooms
sorry italy

we toured some more of the chigi palace yesterday (pronounced key-jee)

i loveee the leather wallcovering
it's gorgeous

here we have the chigi family tree
wow

i'm sure she's on that tree somewhere
this is a very popular hairstyle during the chigi reign
hmm

here is francesco writing a love-letter to peek
joe burrell in 30 years, anyone?
he's demonstrating how the chigi family used their desk
notice the leather wallcovering (same as pictured above)

"and here is how they rang the bell"

we go into rome tomorrow, so hopefully i'll have something more interesting to post!

ciao

$6 cola-lite

2011-05-14T18:14:00.000-05:00

yikes. but delicious! not to mention, it had ice in it. is it weird that i already miss that?
you can see it in this picture..that little stinker

backtrack to yesterday...

dear emily, i found your room in the palace
that's francesco. he's nice, you'll like him

these walls are covered in stamped leather
the stamps that were used are against the wall

our cheapest dinner yet...3 euro
pizza yummm

dear kaki, your favorite part of europe is rubbing off on me

you know you're in italy when you receive a plastic bottle of wine-to-go from the restaurant for your birthday
so funny

now fastforward to today....

we took a train into rome

solo shot
i'm not sure what church this is. (still can't read)
don't worry, we have to take these photos for class
i thought you'd be amused

kaitlin and meredith inside the church
that's the back of a statue next to them

dear rebekah & caroline, there were flags in every window of this building

america and italy are clearly best friends

kaitlin high fived the pope

our bikes

i wish

italiaaa

dear rebekah, italians skate

entertainment

italians are snuggly

solo shot 2

you're welcome

the view on the train ride back to ariccia

i'm so thankful for this opportunity and the sweet girls i've gotten to know so far. can't wait to see what the lord has in store for the summer!

italian-ignorant

2011-05-13T12:17:00.002-05:00

well, we had our first italian class today! maybe i'll begin communication soon. there is a lot more than just the language to learn in order to relate to the italians...

their summer doesn't start until june, even though it's hot here already. everyone is wearing turtlenecks, scarves, leather boots and jackets, and a lot of black. meanwhile, 23 american girls walk by in shorts, sandles, and no sleeves. so much for blending in

kaitlin and i will never blend in. our hair is too light. we've contemplated joining in on the bright red hair fashion trend going on over here. maybe we'll be trend setters in the states.

next good thing to know: the double kisses start on the left cheek

yesterday we visited some little towns near ariccia. i'll post some pictures for you

dear inds juniors: this is how we will survive the fall. espressos = sooo muchhh caffeineee

our lunch on wednesday consisted of hot mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto. notice the pig made of pork on the left. how strange.

this is not an accident..

we have the same sun as america. i can't wrap my mind around that

the roman road. incredible, right??

you can see over 17 miles of italy behind us

this church smelled so old. probably because it was built before the church split.

here' s the church's name
maybe you can read italian

italians have very very very small cars

cruising the streets. tripping is inevitable. it's like walking on the old concourse.

dear alex, you were right. here are some normal and some non-polyploidy strawberries (impressed?)

dear mom, don't be embarrassed. i didn't know what tortellini was until thursday's lunch..

dear abby, this is the pope's summer home. he's not in there; if you were wondering.

lake albano. aka- the pope's backyard

more to come!

ciao

i ate gelato for dinner

2011-05-11T16:33:00.000-05:00

but really...i had 5 scoops of gelato for dinner. it was unintentional, but i LOVED it.

coffee, banana, coconut, strawberry, & pineapple; this could become a problem.

i'm really just trying to fatten this place up a little bit. everything here is skinny. the buses, coke cans, sidewalks, people. i keep feeling like i'm about to fall off the sidewalk. it's like walking on a beam.

anyway, i've never been somewhere so old. this place was around before Jesus. that wasn't a joke, i'm being serious. the architecture is gorgeous. i'll post more pictures soon.

i need to learn more italian. i thought everyone would understand some english...i was wrong. currently i'm trying to use "ciao" to mean everything. hello/goodbye/thankyou/please/what/that/anything else i need to say. the italians love to say "hello" to us, and we respond with ciao. it's pretty much the only word that we know of the others' language. eek.

we went to the grocery store today. i've never been so appreciative of the pictures on the foods i'm buying. who knows what i came home with.

i have to do a presentation on albano laziale tomorrow, so ciao!