It has now been 10 days since my program ended, and almost a week since I have been back in the States. I still can’t believe that this whole experience is now in the past. It’s kind of surreal—the more I tell stories to friends at home, the more I feel like they’re part of some fantastic dream or something. The experiences I have had, and the life I’m in now are two completely separate things. I’m sure they will eventually blend together to some extent, but right now they feel worlds apart.
The final days of our trip were spent in London. My mom and I walked all over the city. We saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s (in the pouring rain!), visited Earl’s Court (where we lived during the program), Portobello Road, and more!! We went to see Sweeney Todd which was fabulous. I had never seen it on stage before, and the performances from the actors, especially the leads, were incredible. On Tuesday, we went to have high tea at a different hotel from where I had gone in March. It was lovely, and once again I was stuffed to the brim by the time we left. I also decided at the last minute that night to get 5 pound standing-room tickets to the highly recommended Misterman at the National, and I’m so glad that I did. Cillian Murphy, the actor in this one-man piece, filled up the entire, huge stage and held my attention from all the way at the back of the house.
Of course we also spent some time drinking cider and eating steak-and-ale pies. One night, though, we got bruschetta as an appetizer… I don’t think I’ll ever be sick of Italian food. Even though it will never be as good as Mamma’s.
The whole trip with my mom was not only a way to prove to myself that I have learned a ton on this trip—I accidentally gave her a few lectures on some buildings we passed—a great (and fun!) transition from the program, into vacation, and finally into being at home. Our flight was mostly uneventful, other than a short delay (but I would prefer to fly with a working engine, thanks) and a screaming child. But we got back intact with all of our bags and I went straight to St. Olaf. I miss my friends from ACM already, but it was nice to see a bunch of friends that I had been missing all semester. Then I spent some much needed R&R/family time with my aunt and uncle, and am now back on campus getting ready to work for the next couple of weeks before going back to my home in Oregon. It has been great catching up and telling stories, though that separation becomes more and more apparent as I tell more. And I get a lot of the same questions.
What was the best part?
Meeting people. A general answer for a general question, but it’s true. I got to know the other ACM students and be surrounded by different backgrounds and ideas in the classroom. I learned how to strike up meaningful-ish conversations with random strangers at pubs, I was able to communicate with my wonderful family despite a language and cultural barrier, and I met loads of other wonderful people in lines at the post office, cafes, parks, on public transportation, and more. I gained some ideas of other cultures—things I may or may not want to incorporate into my own life (for example, I do want to keep up the confidence in pub talk, eat slower dinners, and hopefully keep up some of my Italian skills).
London or Florence?
I can’t even answer that. They are two completely different places, and my experiences there were totally separate. In London, I had a lot more free time and it was great to see theatre and, with that, more nightlife in a city that has so much going on all of the time. Florence in general required a much steeper learning curve. Not only did I learn an entirely new language and take a fast-paced art history course (which is not at all my area of expertise), but I also lived with strangers and learned how to find my way around brand new places without getting too lost. In both cities I was challenged to manage my time so that I wouldn’t stretch myself too thin by doing too many things at once. Whether or not I ever found that balance is debatable…
Both were incredible. Really. As were all of the other beautiful cities I was able to visit. I know each has a piece of my heart, and hopefully someday I’ll return “home” there.
To quote myself from our first full day, I feel so fortunate to have spent the last four months “in a cool place with cool people doing cool things.” But I guess all good things must end.
Let’s see what adventures await us now…!
Friday I had my last final, yesterday I moved out of my host family’s home, and tomorrow morning I leave Italy. It is crazy to me that this trip is almost over and my study abroad experience will be in the past. I’ve met some amazing people and have seen a lot of incredible things. I’m excited to be back in the US and looking forward to my summer plans, but as the days count down I get more and more hesitant to leave.
This week has been lovely. The beginning of it was kind of boring, but still good. We had final classes and papers and things to get in order. The weather perked up again, though, later in the week (it was actually in the upper 80s and 90s Thursday through Saturday!) and everything—God knows how—was accomplished and turned in. Thursday night we had our “final” for the drawing class which was an art show. It was the last chance for some of us to see each other and everyone was mingling and drinking wine and showing off their best drawings—it was a lot of fun.
Friday, after my last final (which I think went well, for those of you wondering), my Mom got into town!! We walked around the city and soaked up the sun while eating gelato… it is officially Summer vacation. It’s really great to have her here, but it’s also sort of weird to have her in this setting that is so very separate from home. It’s a good way to transition, I think. Plus, I have found myself giving her mini-lectures on parts of the city that we learned about in our art history class. She heard all about the doors of the Baptistry… I’m sure she was thrilled. :)
That night, we had our final dinner with Mamma Orsola and the whole family! Rafaelle came home because it was his “sisters’ last night in town.” It was a full table; 9 of us (including my mom!). It was so much fun, delicious as always, and we just ignored the word “leaving” for as long as we could. Saturday morning we all lost it. I miss them so much already. Spero che tornerò presto!!
After many hugs, tears, and more hugs, I left the house and met my mom at the hotel that would become my new home in Florence for a few days. They almost feel like two separate days. Crazy.
We did some shopping in the market and walked around a bit, but our main event for the day was a tour of the Chianti region and wine tasting! It was a bit of an adventure meeting the bus, but we got there and it was SO MUCH FUN! The weather was gorgeous, we made some new friends on the bus, and—once again—the countryside is the kind of Italy that I was expecting all along. And the wine tasting part wasn’t too bad either… hee hee! When we returned, we had a nice, calm evening getting dinner and walking the city by night.
Today the sun has been hiding all day, but we’ve managed to enjoy ourselves still. We attended mass in the Duomo which started as a ploy to see the inside of the church for free. It ended up being a perfect way to wrap up my trip. A great chance to reflect and be reminded of the huge amount of beauty that I have been surrounded by for two months. Four months for that matter!
From there, after stopping for a delicious pizza (you HAVE to have pizza on your last day in Italy!) we went to the Boboli Gardens (still pretty in the rain!) and the Pitti Palace. We walked through the costume gallery full of different outfits and styles from all different time periods which I thought was very interesting, but I might be done with museums for a while. We’ll see. Tonight’s plans include a final dinner and packing. London tomorrow, US on Wednesday. Wow.
This weekend has shown me the kind of Italy that you see in the movies. I am enjoying Florence as a city, but we got out into the country and I decided that, someday, I will spend a chunk of vacation time in a villa in the hills somewhere. It’s breathtaking, especially in the sunshine!!
On Friday, as a sort of “last hoorah” with the whole program, we went to see some Medician villas and toured Tenuta di Capezzana where they make some of the world’s best wine and olive oil. We were surrounded all day by olive trees and drove by vineyards, and we saw some of the cellars where they store wine (some from as early as the 1930s! They call that area a “library”) and the machines they use to make the olive oil. It all wrapped up with a “snack”—at 2pm with a lot of food—and wine tasting! It was so much fun, but I really can’t believe we’re already at the “final celebration” that they told us about when we arrived in Italy.
Saturday, a group of us took a train to Cinque Terre. We wanted to see the coast, and so many people had told us how beautiful that specific area is, so we crossed our fingers for little flood damage and no rain—and we got it! It was not exactly sunny, but that didn’t take away from the beauty. Nor did it stop us from swimming! It was cold, but so much fun! We walked the “Via dell’Amore” along the mountains between Riomaggiore and Manarola, then took a little train to Monterosso to spend the rest of the afternoon in that area. It all made me realize how much I miss the ocean. I’m so glad I got to see this amazing, picturesque landscape. Someday I’ll come back and see more of it—maybe even when it’s warmer!
Just so beautiful.
It was a wonderful, refreshing weekend before a week that has potential to be kind of stressful (finals), emotional (saying goodbye… woah), and fast. I guess it really is the beginning of the end… crazy!
Our whole program spent three (sunny!!) days in ROMA at the end of last week. I actually think I prefer Rome to Florence, although I got to know the city in a much different way than I am getting to know Florence. Both cities obviously have a ton of history, but I love the way that Roman history explains the formation of civilization and parts of western culture! I find it fascinating.
I wasn’t feeling well at the beginning of our trip and missed a couple of the first attractions (for example, I never saw the inside of St. Peter’s… guess I have to go back someday!) but I joined up with everyone as soon as possible to go through the Vatican museums and see the Sistine Chapel! Security in these places is ridiculous, but there are a lot of beautiful things. And seeing Michelangelo’s ceiling… actually everything was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, probably because there are so many elements and tons to look at! Amazing. I’ve actually developed a fear that I will be bored by buildings—especially churches—when I go back home. I think it’s a reasonable concern.
That night we decided that we HAD to see the Trevi Fountain after dinner—the Olsen twins and Lizzie Mcguire all made important wishes there, so obviously we had to! It was beautifully lit and there were a ton of people there, all in happy, friendly moods. It was just lovely.
On Saturday morning we had a walking tour of the Forum and the Coliseum! I loved it!! It was hot and we walked a lot so we were all pretty tired by the end, but our tour guide was engaging and the information was so interesting! She talked about how certain places provided the history of the words “capital,” “palace,” “money,” and more! (Again, there’s that Linguistics geek showing herself). I was in awe thinking about the fact that we were surrounded by 1st century constructions and planning. And our tour guide told us there are probably 7 or so more layers underneath where we were! I still can’t really wrap my mind around that.
The Coliseum was definitely that: colossal. It’s was so interesting to see ancient settings for public spectacle, and to think of what those were! We watched The Gladiator on the bus on our way home (which I actually really enjoyed, by the way) because our guide had said they did a great job of portraying the battles that took place at that time, in that place. I liked feeling like I had some kind of inside information from having been there!
For the rest of the weekend, I had a mix of led and independent exploration in the city, which I think is why I liked it so much. I attended one of the two optional tours with my professor who took us to churches and piazzas and treated us to gelato at Giolitti (quite the experience in itself! It was SO crowded!).
After that tour, I met with a friend from high school who just finished her abroad program studying all semester in Rome, and we went out to dinner with her mom (who had just arrived to do some post-program travel with Annie) in a really fun and bustling part of town! We had a blast catching up and swapping travel stories, and I absolutely loved seeing more of the city and some more nightlife with her.
During the second optional visit, I decided to walk around the city some by myself—something that I think, in itself, is quite an accomplishment and maybe one of my biggest areas of growth thanks to this program. Had you dropped me in the middle of Rome by myself on a Sunday morning 2 months ago, I probably would have had a panic attack. Now I think it’s a valuable opportunity to get a sense of the city and get in some serious people-watching!
On my independent adventure, I saw the Pope!! After wandering around a market for a bit with some friends, I decided to head back toward St. Peter’s just because I had missed out on Friday morning, and as I walked up I could hear the choir singing and see the tail end of mass projected on giant screens outside of the Basilica. When the mass was over, I took my cue from the crowds of people around me and waited around. Shortly, the Pope came to one of the Vatican windows to give his weekly blessing. It was quite emotional, actually. At the end, after a call-and-response in Italian, everyone (or a large number of the people) in the piazza sang “Amen” together, and after an incredibly brief moment of silence, a group of people next to me shouted “VIVA IL PAPA!” and everyone cheered and waved flags. It was amazing. I felt very present in the middle of a community of strangers.
This is not at all to say that I don’t feel this way in Florence. Last night, during the “Notte Bianca”—the night before today’s Labor Day-type holiday—the streets were incredibly crowded and there was music and dancing around every corner of the city. It was so great! And today, since it’s a holiday and there were no classes, I had a day of wandering around Florence (in the rain… oh well…). So I definitely feel energy and community here as well, it’s just different. And I only have about a week and a half left to soak it in… amazing. Where does time go?
Someday? Actually, the sun DID come out today, and I hope that it will stay!
I promise I didn’t fall off the face of the planet, but the last 12 days have been alternately busy and boring. I am still doing amazing things, but it has been so rainy and our midterm paper was due this week—it all starts to weigh on you. It really is amazing how much weather can affect your mood, especially away from home. That and homework. :P
But like I said, I have still done some really great things over the past 10 days. For my Medici class, besides writing a paper, we visited San Marco, the Medici Palace, Santo Trinita and the Bargello. A few of us also went on a tour of the Palazzo Vecchio and saw some excavation of an ancient Roman theatre below the palace!
I think my favorite thing I’ve seen for class in the past two weeks, though, was in Siena. The whole group went last week for a day trip and we saw some amazing views, the Duomo of Siena (which might be my most favorite cathedral of the entire trip), and of course many, many paintings and works of art. We also saw the crypt below the baptistry of the cathedral which has recently been discovered to contain frescoes that may cause art historians to re-write textbooks! It was incredible. Colors and images that have been preserved for centuries… their discovery is huge. Amazing.
I am still enjoying Italian and making progress in my art class. I really am so much busier with class in Florence than I was in London, but when I think about it many of those hours are spent in amazing sites with an extremely knowledgeable professor/tour guide, learning a beautiful language, or drawing… I deal with it. :)
Last week, we went back to the Teatro Pergola to see ”Breakfast at Tiffany’s” or “Colazione di Tiffany” which was fun—mostly because we got to sit in fancy boxes! It was a challenge to engage in mostly because it was all in Italian and their words flew by at lightening speed! But it was still cool to have seen some Italian theatre! Even if it is based on an American film (which I’m really glad I watched before going to the play so I could at least sort of know what was going on).
Dinners continue to be incredible and we speak with less English and more grammatically-correct Italian every day! The other night, my host mother had a whole group of friends and family visiting and eating dinner with us, and we were able to converse and laugh with them… over homemade gnocchi! It was so much fun.
I tried to get out of the house, though, and just spend some time out this week, but it was difficult between class and rainy weather. Friday, Charlotte and Kristen and I went to Lucca and had a great time! We rented bikes and rode along the city wall—I felt like we were in a movie. The city was beautiful and the people were really nice, and the weather held up for us!
Then Saturday I spent all over Florence in some museums and gardens and shops… and it was beautiful out! We went to the Pitti Palace, but went straight to the Boboli Gardens. Those gardens are connected to the Bardini Gardens and we were told by one of our program directors that we have to go there to see the huge arch of wisteria because it’s so incredibly beautiful—she was right. It was a little bit like heaven; there was a great view of the city, it smelled wonderful, and there were so many shades of purple!
After walking around with some gelato (in the sun!) I went to the Galileo museum which was super interesting. I actually got kicked out of a science museum because I stayed until closing time… me. Weird.
On the way home I just wandered through shops and markets. I love that I am able to communicate with people in Italian now. It may not be great, but it’s enough to not feel like a silly American tourist and sort of blend in. Plus I’m able to eavesdrop once again on the streets or in buses. Which is great.
Now if only the sun will stay. We learned a saying:
Se piove il 4 aprile pioverà per 40 giorni.
If it rains on the 4th of April, it will rain for 40 days.
It rained on April 4th… fingers crossed for this not being true?
This past week has been full of museums, churches, more delicious food, and some spectacular views. As a class, we traveled to the Opera del’ Duomo Museum which holds a ton of original stonework and sculptures and even the first plans for the cathedral. We also saw Santa Croce (where Galileo, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and a lot of other famous Italians are buried! How strange to just walk into a place where all of these recognizable names are on tombs along the walls…) and the Brancacci Chapel. There is just so much art and history in this city and it is all so beautiful, I might be the next victim of Stendahl Syndrome.
We also had a group tour of the Teatro Pergola, the first “Italian” style theatre in Italy! It has a design that creates perfect acoustics, built almost like the body of a guitar with a giant empty room underneath the house and the whole floor of the audience can move up to be level with the stage for when they wanted to host banquets or processionals in the large auditorium! Also, the first telephone in the world is backstage of this theatre (apparently Alexander Graham Bell was just smart and quick enough to get the patent)! We are going to see “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” [Colazione da Tiffany] there later this week. I’m really looking forward to it (and we watched the movie in English to prepare!!)
Italian continues to be great. I feel like I’m learning a ton in a very short amount of time. It has only been two weeks but I feel like I am able to at least attempt to communicate or figure out what other people are saying around me. And art is good, although I was frustrated with my drawing this week. They want us to do some sketching outside of class time to practice so Charlotte and I have been on the lookout for some good statues—sitting in the square sketching is not anything that I would have ever pictured myself doing, but it’s pretty fun! And people react to you in the funniest ways, either by avoiding you or looking over your shoulder, or asking if they can cross in front… I think someone actually took my picture at one point. It’s just all so funny to me.
Then of course it is Easter weekend, and we had a lot of free time to spend with our families and with each other. Thursday night a handful of us went to a couple of bars to see some of the nightlife; I am pleased to say that Italy is not as scary as so many people make it out to be! As long as you’re not stupid (and we are not), it’s a really fun time! On Friday, Lizzie, Alyssa, Charlotte, Phoebe and I went to Fiesole. There are museums and some historical sites to see, but we mostly walked around and took in the magnificent view. Later in the afternoon we had a picnic in a park under an olive tree overlooking part of Florence… it was perfect. Saturday the weather was not so great so we mostly spent time in the library or in our house, but we went out that night to a little pub near our house. The bartender was super friendly and very understanding of our broken Italian—this has been a recurring theme in stores and cafes and bars that I have been in, and I am very grateful. At least we’re trying?
Sunday morning, Easter day, we woke up to big chocolate eggs at our breakfast places—a sweet present from our Mama. We then went to the Duomo to see the “carro” (or cart) explode with fireworks—with the large number of people and the rain, we mostly just heard all of the booming and banging and saw a lot of smoke, but were able to see a few of the fireworks that actually flew into the air. I am actually so amazed the facade of the Duomo doesn’t catch on fire!! I went to the mass inside the Duomo that follows all of this excitement and could pick out a few pieces. Not as much as last week in Venice, but a little.
Then after wandering around in the rain for a while (walking down narrow Italian roads and passing people with both umbrellas open is quite entertaining), we went on a mission to find Gusta Pizza—recommended to me by multiple people. My first Italian pizza, and it was DELIZIOSSO! We ordered pesto and margharita pizzas, and they made them special in the shape of hearts! So awesome. We came home and mostly just relaxed. Mama made us a delicious Easter dinner with lamb! And Easter cake! Mmmm…
Then today, also a very big Italian holiday, was pretty relaxing as well. Charlotte and I strolled around and sat for a while in a nearby park that I think may be one of my new favorite places. It was really green and the weather was beautiful, and there were families everywhere!! Apparently it is very common for families to go on picnics on Easter Monday. Literally everything is closed (except a couple of gelaterias… we may have stopped by one on our walk…) and it is a day for people to rest and spend time together. I absolutely love some of these Italian traditions!! It was a great way to finish off the weekend—sitting in the sun surrounded by trees and birds and kids running around. I’m glad that I have found a place like that now, and I look forward to going back soon.
No, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth, I just moved to Italy! We had an insanely busy first week full of orientation to the city, first classes, moving into our host families, and even a weekend trip to Venice!
In Florence, I am taking three classes: Medici as Patrons of the Arts, The Sight-Size Tradition (a portraiture drawing class), and Italian language. The Medici class is going to be a LOT of information to take in, but our professor is wonderful and knows so much about art history and the progression of art over centuries. We have many classes on site (so far we have already been to the Duomo, San Lorenzo, San Miniato… plus as a large group she has taken us around Florence and led us through Venice) and see SO much art, it is almost overwhelming (in a good way!).
The drawing class is going to be challenging, but is a lot of fun as well. We are starting from casts (last week just a body, but today we started faces…) and are learning a technique that was apparently used by many classic artists. It takes a lot of time and patience, but it is so great to be learning techniques to create art of a certain style while also learning about the history of artistic styles. Plus it’s taught by fun men from London—almost like we never left!
And I am loving learning Italian. While my Spanish skills are not helping me out quite as much as I assumed they would (some cognates just do not transfer, and I keep wanting to conjugate verbs the wrong way), I feel like I have already learned a lot in just five lessons so far. My teacher is great and the class is a lot of fun.
I am also learning a lot through my host family. Charlotte, Phoebe and I are living with a host mother and her adult son. We are eating extremely well, laughing a lot, and attempting to speak Italian as much as we can. Dinners are so great here; Not only is our mom a fabulous cook, but I love the slow pace with the multiple, spread out courses. We are able to talk and eat and not feel rushed or too stuffed (although I am always very full). Our very first night, we sat at the table together for two hours and did not even realize it. I love this culture around food! The only food that we’re technically “allowed” to eat while walking around the city is gelato (and believe me, I have had much… mmmm).
I’ve had some time to explore the city, some of which I did with Kristen (a friend from home) when we met up last week! Her long weekend happened to overlap with my time here! We had a lot of fun. I feel like I’m now mostly comfortable with getting around the city center, especially near the school and the Duomo, but I foresee a lot of further exploration in my near future.
Most recently, we were all in Venice as a class. We saw tons and tons of churches and some scoulas and gallerias, all full of artwork—some as old as the 11th century! I think one of my favorite churches was San Marco (which is the main one so that’s good); it is full of gold mosaics and candles and beautiful art pieces. A few of us went to the Palm Sunday service there yesterday and I was able to pick out pieces of it!! Venice in general was just wonderful, though. I didn’t miss cars in the least. The streets and piazzas were all so cute and the bridges so beautiful, I felt like I was walking through the set of a movie all weekend. Besides our class visits and activities, we saw an amazing glass-blowing demonstration in Murano, went to the Guggenheim museum, and sat by the water (with gelato of course!)… and more! It was a lovely weekend.
It has been a very busy week to kick off our time here, but every day I am more and more happy to be in Italy. It’s beautiful, my tummy and my taste buds are extremely happy, and it is going to be a wonderful month and a half.
Ciao, amici! A presto!
In between London and Florence, we had a week for free travel. Since I first saw this trip and the fact that it included a Spring Break, I knew that I wanted to visit family in Vienna. For the first half of the week, Charlotte and I went and got spoiled rotten by my aunt and uncle and cousins—we had a wonderful time seeing Vienna (and a bit of the country) and I absolutely loved spending time with my family in their home that I have heard about for 21 years but had never seen before this week.
We were shown a good time and were stuffed with authentic Viennese and Austrian meals; I even tried sauerkraut and ate delicious goulash! We learned some German, although I’m sure I offended all speakers of the language through my horrific pronunciation. Also I learned that my new favorite word is himbeere… raspberry! I ordered raspberry everything! We saw a good deal of the city in our short time. We walked around the Schӧnbrunn and Belvedere palace gardens, the Ring, the Prater… the weather was gorgeous so we wanted to be outside walking around as much as possible.
One of the days we met up with Hattie and some of the girls on the Florence-first program because we overlapped a bit in our trip! It was SO nice to see Hattie and catch up with her, and really nice to swap stories about both halves of the trip with the girls so Charlotte and I could not only gush about what we did in London, but also get excited for Florence! We spent the whole day with them in the Prater (and rode a swing ride that is apparently in the Guinness Book of World Records), sitting by the river, making dinner and going to a concert.
There is SO much to see in and around Vienna, so I hope to return someday, but we set off to spend the second half of our break in Paris with some of the other girls from our program. We fit so much into such a short amount of time. We saw the Eiffel Tower (and went up to the top!), the Moulin Rouge, Sacre-Coeur, Arch de Triumph, Notre Dame, went to the Louvre, took a 3 hour walking tour that was fantastic, and I managed to gain a really wonky sunburn thanks to my purse strap! I also sat in a café a few times and managed to get through a few stores without speaking English… I was pretty proud of myself (not that my French was any good).
I think my favorite night was Friday; as we left the Louvre and its pyramids all lit up and beautiful, we passed through the old courtyard of the building past a violinist and onto the Pont des Arts which is the bridge over the river Seine with all of the “locks of love.” So many people were there either meeting dates or groups of friends, and each clump had a bottle of wine or some snacks or flowers or something. From there we went to see the Tour Eiffel light up over the river in its sparkling light show, and we all just stared in silence for a few minutes… I could not stop smiling. It was such a perfect evening! What an amazing way to spend Spring Break—balanced with some down time in grassy parks under the sun of course!
The thing that I had to get used to the most, aside from different words for please and thank you, was that I could not just sit and eavesdrop on conversations. There are a very limited amount of people in each country who spoke English in regular conversation, so I had to listen to inflection and watch people interact more than listen to their words. It took, and will take, some getting used to as it will be the same in the next seven weeks in Florence.
And here we are. In Italy: a place I have wanted to visit my entire life! We landed in Pisa and decided to see the tower right away as well as nap in the sun in that square for a good chunk of the morning. We managed to eat some gelato, take fun pictures (I’m especially proud of the one on the left…), talk to people (some Italian people and also tourists from all over) and enjoy our last few hours of Spring Break. While I do not expect the next two months to be grueling, it was nice to really take in the fact that we are on break and let ourselves relax. Upon arrival in Florence, we had a short orientation meeting and then our first Italian meal… wow. I’m going to like it here.
It’s nice to know that I am settling into another city for a longer amount of time once again. We are not with our host families yet, but have the chance to get used to the city and our class schedules for the next couple of days before we split and move into these Italian homes… WOW seven weeks seem like such a long time from now, but also somehow seem so near. I guess we will see what part two of this adventure holds for us!! I predict lots of pasta, wine, gelato, statues and cathedrals… looking forward to it!
My last night in London… how crazy. Just a short time ago I was freaking out about leaving the States and travelling to this new place, and now it really feels a little bit like home. I am so looking forward to Florence (by way of Vienna and Paris this week… Spring Break WOO!), but every once in a while I feel this overwhelming sense of sadness about leaving this city.
This week was filled with coffee shops and paper-writing (we had two essays due today as finals, and I maybe started them a little later than I should have… oops!) as well as fitting in a few final activities. Tuesday night, Jack and I went to a free comedy/improv show in Covent Garden which was a lot of fun—and I understood the British references!! Wednesday I went to see One Man, Two Guv’nors with Charlotte which was not only a load of fun and laughs, but also exciting to see because it is a modern version of Commedia dell’Arte! And then last night we saw War Horse. It was such a sweet story, and the play was just so beautiful from the puppetry to the projections to the music… and we had great seats that we purchased our first weekend here. Talk about coming full circle. And we got free badges, plus we think we saw the lead in the Tube station afterward! It was a great way to wrap up the theatre-going experiences on this trip. I might have withdrawal in Italy. We’ll see.
Today, after finishing my papers (which took longer than it should have because I kept eavesdropping on the different pairs of people who sat next to me in the coffee shop), I took a beautiful walk around Regent’s Park—or most of it, anyway. Then we had our farewell dinner at the Troubadour, a wine bar right down the road from our flat. It was so fun to spend a casual evening with our little London family: classmates, professors, even our landlord! And it turned into a sort of dance party!! So much fun.
I keep thinking “last Tube ride,” “last class,” “last West End show,” “last chance…” but I’m coming back. Whether it’s after Florence for a few days or years from now (or both?) I plan to be back in London someday. For now, I will have my “last night” in the flat before I leave for Vienna way too early in the morning… and part two of the adventure will begin soon!
I just had a wonderful weekend in Ireland. To be specific, we stayed in Dublin and took a day trip to see the countryside in Wicklow. All of the “upstairs family” girls traveled to Dublin this weekend. I know, I know: it’s the week before St. Patrick’s Day (and the week after Leap Year!) but I really think it was perfect. The weather was nice, it wasn’t too insanely crowded (other than the rugby fans who were there to watch Scotland lose to Ireland), and we had a wonderful time.
Our first day we just sort of wandered around Dublin to find our hostel and see the city. There were people playing guitar on Grafton Street (like in Once!!) and we saw a lot of shops and vendors. That night, after chatting for a while with some really sweet Irish girls in our hostel (they told us their accents were boring. I beg to differ), we went out to a pub that had live music and adorable older couples doing some kind of Irish dancing.
Friday we went on the free walking tour of the city hosted by our hostel. It turned out to be three hours long, and it was awesome! Our tour guide was great and we went to so many cool spots in the city. I finally learned the story of St. Patrick, as well as some ghost stories, the importance of the harp, facts about leprechauns, some key cultural differences, etc… and we met a lot of really cool people! Many were from the states, but travelling all over. It was fun to swap stories and find out why people were drawn to Dublin this weekend. We ended the afternoon by going to St. Patrick’s cathedral and playing in the park next to it. One of my favorite things… so great. That night we went to a couple of different pubs/bars in the Temple Bar area. There was so much going on and every place was PACKED! And I tried pink beer (strawberry… yum)! It was really fun, and we chatted with more Irish people. Some men were dressed like cowboys for their friend’s “stag weekend”—the groom-to-be was dressed as Pocahontas. Classy.
Yesterday we took a bus tour for the majority of the day to Wicklow, by way of the shores of Dún Laoghaire. Our tour guide, Stephen, was super fun (and a little crazy) and gave us a lot of information about the land we drove through. For instance, Braveheart and P.S. I Love You were both filmed in this bog land, and the term “bogged down” apparently comes from here too. He also had us all sing on the bus. It was great. And we saw a lot of beautifully breathtaking spots.
At Glendaloch, “Valley of Two Lakes,” we had a little under two hours to just walk around the lakes and along the hillsides—by sheep!! The entire tour was just beautiful. The country was so colorful and expansive. I cannot even imagine what it is like to be there when the Heather has bloomed and there is some purple in the mix!
On our way back to the hostel, I went to go see the music store (Waltons) from Once. It was renovated about three years ago, but it’s the same store! And the exterior is still the same. We also stopped into a little market and bought some homemade hummus that was delicious! And once we got to the hostel we mostly stayed in for the night. We met some people from Cork, in for the rugby game, and a few of us played Pool (or Snooker… we’re not really sure). It was really fun, but my partner and I lost both games… but it’s like they always say: it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. Right? Right.
I loved this weekend for a lot of reasons, but I think it especially helped that we had three full days to get in a lot of things at a more leisurely (though by no means very slow) pace. I just had a great time, both in the city and in the country. It was fun and very lively, and also refreshing and reflective. I bought a Claddagh ring which has many significant elements, but most importantly I was told that if I wore the ring as I left the country, it is certain that I will return to Ireland one day. I definitely wore that ring while leaving this morning. I’m already looking forward to going back sometime… hopefully sooner rather than later.
