Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
A bit about being a year older and the begining of the real fun of being abroad...
Buenosera Amichi!
Liz and Katie here wanting to check in to let you all know we are in fact alive! These last few weeks have been crazy, why we thought that things would calm down once school started is a question we ask ourselves daily.
As many of you know some of the most exciting events thus far have happened in the last few weeks. For example, we have started our 11 weekend in a row tour around Italy and Europe. These adventures are being documented in there "secret" locations and will be slowly going up over the next week as episodes of WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE KATIE AND LIZ?! (yes, we know this is a shameless rip-off and would like to thank Matt Lauer for letting us copy his show!) Its has been fun filming these mini-episodes because it not only gives us a fun reason to learn some history about the places we are visiting but also gives you, our loyal followers, an opportunity to check out things as they really are. Look for these starting early next week.
Also, we just celebrated our BIRTHDAY! If you would have told us we would be celebrating in Rome a few years ago we would have laughed in your face, but its really happening. We had the most amazing dinner with our friends (Oh, and the most exciting piece of all) our parents! They made it into Rome on the 4th despite their huge delay in Munich and made it just in time to wish us a HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the 5th :) Unfortunately they came in on one of only a few very ugly days of weather we have seen in Rome thus far. It has been so amazing having them here in Italy and being able to eat with them and travel with them doesn't hurt much either..... We will pick their 4 star hotel over a hostel - or even our apartment- any day. Funny side note, we were planning to do all of the "tourist" stuff with them during the four days they were in Rome, like go to the Colosseum etc. But they got here and wanted to see Rome as we do.... Talk about a boring few hours of going to the school and the supermarket... Thus, the following night we made them go to the Trevi Fountain and take pictures of us throwing coins into it and to the Colosseum where we spent nearly a full hour waiting to get the perfect "jumping shot". (Katie doesn't like a single picture but Mom got bored, so we left haha). Also, our parents took 11 of us out to dinner to meet some of the kids in our program! It was so nice for them to get to meet our amazing new friends and understand why we love being in Rome (because let me tell you, its certainly not for the classes- side note, our teachers still don't speak English...)
We are now currently looking out over the ocean perched on a cliff in one of the most beautiful spots we have ever seen. We obviously cant give away the location quite yet but wanted to share our excitement of having the privilege of traveling around Italy for the next four weeks with our parents!
If you would like to see pictures of all the fun we are having check out Liz's Facebook page (she has been deemed the official photographer of our abroad experience). And look forward to our new Video- Posts (Katie's full undertaking)!
Ciao, For Now!
Liz and Katie here wanting to check in to let you all know we are in fact alive! These last few weeks have been crazy, why we thought that things would calm down once school started is a question we ask ourselves daily.
As many of you know some of the most exciting events thus far have happened in the last few weeks. For example, we have started our 11 weekend in a row tour around Italy and Europe. These adventures are being documented in there "secret" locations and will be slowly going up over the next week as episodes of WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE KATIE AND LIZ?! (yes, we know this is a shameless rip-off and would like to thank Matt Lauer for letting us copy his show!) Its has been fun filming these mini-episodes because it not only gives us a fun reason to learn some history about the places we are visiting but also gives you, our loyal followers, an opportunity to check out things as they really are. Look for these starting early next week.
Also, we just celebrated our BIRTHDAY! If you would have told us we would be celebrating in Rome a few years ago we would have laughed in your face, but its really happening. We had the most amazing dinner with our friends (Oh, and the most exciting piece of all) our parents! They made it into Rome on the 4th despite their huge delay in Munich and made it just in time to wish us a HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the 5th :) Unfortunately they came in on one of only a few very ugly days of weather we have seen in Rome thus far. It has been so amazing having them here in Italy and being able to eat with them and travel with them doesn't hurt much either..... We will pick their 4 star hotel over a hostel - or even our apartment- any day. Funny side note, we were planning to do all of the "tourist" stuff with them during the four days they were in Rome, like go to the Colosseum etc. But they got here and wanted to see Rome as we do.... Talk about a boring few hours of going to the school and the supermarket... Thus, the following night we made them go to the Trevi Fountain and take pictures of us throwing coins into it and to the Colosseum where we spent nearly a full hour waiting to get the perfect "jumping shot". (Katie doesn't like a single picture but Mom got bored, so we left haha). Also, our parents took 11 of us out to dinner to meet some of the kids in our program! It was so nice for them to get to meet our amazing new friends and understand why we love being in Rome (because let me tell you, its certainly not for the classes- side note, our teachers still don't speak English...)
We are now currently looking out over the ocean perched on a cliff in one of the most beautiful spots we have ever seen. We obviously cant give away the location quite yet but wanted to share our excitement of having the privilege of traveling around Italy for the next four weeks with our parents!
If you would like to see pictures of all the fun we are having check out Liz's Facebook page (she has been deemed the official photographer of our abroad experience). And look forward to our new Video- Posts (Katie's full undertaking)!
Ciao, For Now!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
First Week of School as JUNIORS!!!
Bonjourno mi Ammici!
So this week has flown by at the slowest pace possible... its the most perfect contradiction in the world... When discussing what to talk about in the blog this week Katie and I were stumped. So little had happened during the first week of school, really. How much could possibly happen when we have so much real work going on... Just as we were agreeing that there was nothing going on in our life's since we've dedicated 20 hrs a week of our time to classes we remembered:
Monday-
- first day of school... the teachers give you 20 min coffee breaks and only speak broken English. The school has ten class rooms and they are all named.. (Italian in Michelangelo Room anyone?)
- almost being in big trouble because of a noise violation that wasn't our fault... and a subsequent meeting with the director of Arcadia.. Woof.
- Dinner at the posse's house that ended in a night at scholars...
Tuesday-
- Second day of school.... equally ridiculous.. are you sure this is real? Oh and our Mythology teacher just prints stuff out of the book to read- were going to go out on a limb and say he literally doesn't speak or understand English, he just sounds it out phin-et-ic-ally... sweeeetttt.
-We then went with Rachel, Emma and Kelsey to the Piazza Navona for an amazing and beautiful dinner right in front of the famous fountain. ahhhh.... so over priced but sooooo worth it.
- then... THE BEST NIGHT YET HAPPENED!!!! We went with Rachel, Kelsey, Emma, Cuyler, John, Dan and some friends to scholars for KARAOKE night!!!! ahhh. Emma and Kelsey tried to sing but it was packed wall to wall with crazy Americans/Germans/Austrians/Swedes/English/Irish.... ah. everything about this night was unreal! check out pictures to understand.
Wednesday-
-Third day of school!!! Funny thing about it was our teachers still don't speak English... and today Liz's professor gave her a lunch break in the middle of class for half an hour.... I would like to repeat, are you sure this is real school. Then in our masterpieces of the Vatican class the teacher said we would make up the curriculum as we went along.... ya.
- We all then went straight from the school to a different random school for a "team meeting"... sweet. On the way Liz was leading a group of 20 students because for some reason she thinks she knows her way around the city and got us all 45 min lost... she did eventually find it though and in her defence no one else had any idea what to do. Actually though, this was an incredibly fun meeting as we have been given the opportunity of some amazing things to do while we are abroad. For example- we are both working at a soup kitchen to feed hot meals to afghan refugees. Also, Liz is going to be one of four other selected students to participate in an Italian-United Nations immersion program. Should be cool, for her.
- After the meeting we all went to eat CHINESE food..... this was the best cure to an overload of Italian food ever! love it. Then Liz left her camera here.... she clearly didn't have the most "rockstar" day.
Thursday-
- Fourth (and last day) of classes of the week!! Teachers still don't speak English, no changes there.
- We slept... for a really really long time....
- Everyone went out down in Campo De Fiori (which was a serious bore- American bars in Rome? No, Grazie.) So then we all ended up at our favorite place in Rome- Scholars! It was so fun to meet some locals- a dancer from LA turned Holland America cruise lines turned dance club promoter- and some other students who are studying abroad!
Friday-
- NO SCHOOL- do you know what that means?? Shopping on Via Del Corso! Yes that is the Rodeo Drive of Italy :) oh and KB is a BLONDE again!!!
- Then we ate and went to sleep :) nice low key night!
Saturday-
- BEACH DAY! How exciting right?? wrong. It was raining, cold and windy. Unfortunately we didn't realise this until we were there either. It was fun to have a yummy lunch near the ocean though.
- On Saturday night we went to the Clubs in Testaccio.... sooo fun :) (and Liz got all 10 girls in for free everywhere we went... awesome)
We guess in retrospect we had a pretty amazing week. Look forward to much more exciting posts in the future :)
Ciao, For now...
So this week has flown by at the slowest pace possible... its the most perfect contradiction in the world... When discussing what to talk about in the blog this week Katie and I were stumped. So little had happened during the first week of school, really. How much could possibly happen when we have so much real work going on... Just as we were agreeing that there was nothing going on in our life's since we've dedicated 20 hrs a week of our time to classes we remembered:
Monday-
- first day of school... the teachers give you 20 min coffee breaks and only speak broken English. The school has ten class rooms and they are all named.. (Italian in Michelangelo Room anyone?)
- almost being in big trouble because of a noise violation that wasn't our fault... and a subsequent meeting with the director of Arcadia.. Woof.
- Dinner at the posse's house that ended in a night at scholars...
Tuesday-
- Second day of school.... equally ridiculous.. are you sure this is real? Oh and our Mythology teacher just prints stuff out of the book to read- were going to go out on a limb and say he literally doesn't speak or understand English, he just sounds it out phin-et-ic-ally... sweeeetttt.
-We then went with Rachel, Emma and Kelsey to the Piazza Navona for an amazing and beautiful dinner right in front of the famous fountain. ahhhh.... so over priced but sooooo worth it.
- then... THE BEST NIGHT YET HAPPENED!!!! We went with Rachel, Kelsey, Emma, Cuyler, John, Dan and some friends to scholars for KARAOKE night!!!! ahhh. Emma and Kelsey tried to sing but it was packed wall to wall with crazy Americans/Germans/Austrians/Swedes/English/Irish.... ah. everything about this night was unreal! check out pictures to understand.
Wednesday-
-Third day of school!!! Funny thing about it was our teachers still don't speak English... and today Liz's professor gave her a lunch break in the middle of class for half an hour.... I would like to repeat, are you sure this is real school. Then in our masterpieces of the Vatican class the teacher said we would make up the curriculum as we went along.... ya.
- We all then went straight from the school to a different random school for a "team meeting"... sweet. On the way Liz was leading a group of 20 students because for some reason she thinks she knows her way around the city and got us all 45 min lost... she did eventually find it though and in her defence no one else had any idea what to do. Actually though, this was an incredibly fun meeting as we have been given the opportunity of some amazing things to do while we are abroad. For example- we are both working at a soup kitchen to feed hot meals to afghan refugees. Also, Liz is going to be one of four other selected students to participate in an Italian-United Nations immersion program. Should be cool, for her.
- After the meeting we all went to eat CHINESE food..... this was the best cure to an overload of Italian food ever! love it. Then Liz left her camera here.... she clearly didn't have the most "rockstar" day.
Thursday-
- Fourth (and last day) of classes of the week!! Teachers still don't speak English, no changes there.
- We slept... for a really really long time....
- Everyone went out down in Campo De Fiori (which was a serious bore- American bars in Rome? No, Grazie.) So then we all ended up at our favorite place in Rome- Scholars! It was so fun to meet some locals- a dancer from LA turned Holland America cruise lines turned dance club promoter- and some other students who are studying abroad!
Friday-
- NO SCHOOL- do you know what that means?? Shopping on Via Del Corso! Yes that is the Rodeo Drive of Italy :) oh and KB is a BLONDE again!!!
- Then we ate and went to sleep :) nice low key night!
Saturday-
- BEACH DAY! How exciting right?? wrong. It was raining, cold and windy. Unfortunately we didn't realise this until we were there either. It was fun to have a yummy lunch near the ocean though.
- On Saturday night we went to the Clubs in Testaccio.... sooo fun :) (and Liz got all 10 girls in for free everywhere we went... awesome)
We guess in retrospect we had a pretty amazing week. Look forward to much more exciting posts in the future :)
Ciao, For now...
Sunday, September 12, 2010
First Week in Roma....
Bonjourno!!
So much has happened this past week, it has been crazy and busy and hectic and a bit frantic but at the end of the day its been one of the best weeks of our life. We are planning to update the blog daily however this craziness that ensued this week made it tough to find time! So now, our story continues:
Wednesday, September 8-
This story begins on the gloomiest of all the mornings we have seen in our new city. The skies were dark and looked angry that we had to be up so early and they were threatening to ruin our trip to a local "agrotourismo farm" with our host school. However, as you learn in all things life has to offer, the show must go on. So with rain in sight we set off for the farm on a large bus. The 45 minute drive proved to be well worth it when, seemingly out of no where, the most beautiful lake appeared. Our director, Tina, went on to explain to us that the residence of Rome flock to these hills in the summer to get away from the heat of the city. The lakes were formed from the volcanoes that used to be in this region and were actually in the calderas. These lakes are so beautiful (as you will see) and at the top of the lake ridge was one of the most stunning houses we had ever seen. We were wondering if we could convince our dad to get it for us when we found out it was the Popes summer residence, complete with an observatory.... I guess we wont be getting that one any time soon. Side note- for those of you that have seen or read the Da Vinci Code this is the residence that they go to for the meeting with the Pope.
About 15 minutes later we arrived at the farm. This, however, was unlike any "farm" we had ever seen. It was complete with a bed and breakfast and a vineyard. Not to mention the riding arena and the fully functioning restaurant and farmers market. Everyone was starving and very excited to get right there and eat the fabulous four course meal that Tina had been describing all day when we were whisked off into the wine and olive oil making factory there. It was very informative, although the owner only spoke Italian, and it was exciting to see how it was all made. After this we all nearly sprinted to the lunch tables and were promptly served an antipasti plate, complete with a tomato stuffed with something that seemed like fish and cubes of what Liz is pretty sure was raw ham... Still starving, the first real course came. It was the most amazing, mouth watering pasta with a carbonera sauce we have ever tried. (and, it to date is the only meal that we would love to have every minute of every day.) Now, very full, the second course came- how do Italians eat like this?- it was pork in a cream sauce with baked potato wedges. Then, as if that wasn't enough, they came around with giant plates of homemade cookies and lemonciello. The lemonciello is supposed to be good for the digestion of the meal- I would agree if its meant to make you throw up... I digress.
After the meal we all went to the market and stocked up on fabulous wine, olive oil, jam and the best and cheapest produce we have ever seen. Right as we were all about to leave the sky decided it couldn't just be gloomy any more, it poured harder than we have ever seen.
When we got home we siestad then woke up just in time for dinner. This was the first real meal on our own and we were excited to be greeted as locals at the restaurant next to our school called Risto. The owner, Alessandro, loves us all and is even cooking a thanksgiving dinner for us!! Oh and he calls Liz "Queen Elizabeth", a name that she thinks is extremely fitting.... :)
The only other eventful thing to report is that Kelsey and Rachel ordered what they thought was a small cup of Nutella flavored gelato and turned out to be literally a cup full of Nutella.... which we proceeded to devour and thus felt extremely un-well.
Thursday, September 9-
A beautiful, sunny and overwhelmingly hot day greeted us this morning as we began the day on a walking tour of Rome. First, however, Queen Elizabeth (Liz) had her first of what she likes to call "little coffees", or to the rest of the world, espresso shots served in the worlds teeny-tiniest baby coffee mugs. The walking tour was beautiful as we went to the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and the Campo de Fiori. Quick side note- a kid in our tour threw his coin into the fountain and it bounced back out... looks like he won't be coming back to Rome...what a bummer.
After the tour we took a siesta and cooked dinner for our new found best friends, Kelsey and Rachel. (This is where the day gets interesting) We decided we needed to redeem our nutella-gelato mix up by getting some more gelato which led to us all being surrounded by a group of old Italian men who wouldn't leave us alone. They asked for a picture, then one asked if Liz would marry him, and another grabbed Katie's wrist and wouldn't let go.... then Liz grabbed Katie's other wrist, which became a game of human tug-of-war. Liz Won. Later, when we were back in our room going to sleep a metal marble got thrown into our bedroom window. Liz just about lost it. Katie was indifferent, which made Liz more upset....
Friday, September 10-
Tivoli Day!!!! For those of you that don't know about Tivoli and the old Villa de Este (not the hotel) it is a beautiful hill town on the outskirts of Rome that has beautiful gardens and castles and an adorable town. Oh and, most importantly, it is where many scenes in the Lizzy McGuire Movie were filmed!!! (This clearly put Liz back in a better mood, for those of you that were worried.) We spent almost an entire day there, check out the video for so much more on this as words literally can not describe the overwhelming beauty of this place. Side note-Katie is getting married there.
When we got back our dear friends Rachel, Kelsey, Emma and Jordan made us dinner at their apartment, which we got very lost trying to find.... Then we all went out to Campo di Fiori for a fabulous first night out in Rome. We met up with Kelsey's boyfriend Chris and all of his roommates and many other kids from our program that made for a very fun night.
Saturday, September 11
We want to first say God bless the USA, as we remember the terrible tragedy nine years ago. It is expected but sad that no one here even thinks twice about it. We decided that since orientation was finally over, and we no longer needed Arcadia to change our diapers for us we would wander through the city ON OUR OWN! This meant navigating our way around and riding the tram by ourselves. Kelsey, Rachel, Dan, Eric, Chris and Jon all joined us as we set out into the picture perfect streets of Rome. We saw the Pantheon, the Spanish steps and The Trevi Fountain. All I can say is thank goodness for Liz. She claims to know anything and everything about the historical sites in Rome, and was quick to tell everyone all she knew about who died where, why he was important, where his tomb is...yada yada yada. She must get that random trivia thing from Mom. The boys thought this was so funny that they wanted to steal/find a flag for Liz to hold up to signify her official job as tour guide.
Now, we have to stop for a moment to tell you about our glorious stop for dunch (or linner). We went to McDonalds. This was unlike any McDonalds we have ever seen. The doors parted and in we walked. There was a bar to our right serving anything from espressos to wine, and to the left there was a soft serve and gelato bar. We walked downstairs, under a tunnel and climbed our way to what we now know is the most wonderful McDonalds in the world!!! It looks like a chic, modern night club, only its swarming with heathens. I would have guessed the middle school just got out, but it was Saturday. So the girls wear their bras up to their necks on their backs, and like to wear tops that show as much as their bra as possible. Oh and they sag their skinnys to show the matching thong! Classy. Really though, where are their mothers? We ended the day by going out in Testacchio to the clubs. We danced literally all night long on the roof terrace of Coyote. Clubs don't start bumpin' until 2am here, so needless to say it was a long night, but we had an amazing day!!!
Sunday, September 12-
Today Katie needed some extra sleep while Liz got up and decided to wander the streets of her new town. Her friend Jordan accompanied her and they began their long trek to the Vatican from Trastevre. It was a beautiful walk full of delightful conversation and an excess of getting lost trying to find the Vatican. We then went to meet Katie (who almost got lost on the single line tram... go figure) so we could all make our way to the Colosseum. Along the way we discovered the difference between a panini, a panino and a panina- all various types of sandwiches given specific names based on their "classifications".... (ok maybe we had to much time on our hands for this one...) The walk along the forum was beautiful and to be honest seeing the Colosseum really never gets old.
After a lovely dinner, that Katie made, we went with a bunch of friends down to the Scholars Lounge- an Irish bar- to watch some good old fashioned American Sunday football! It was an amazing time with some AMAZING American food- wings, nachos, fries.... mmmmm! We also met some amazing people, including a couple from England with the best accent we have ever heard and some other students studying in Rome including our new friend, Cuyler (like Tyler with a C instead of a T). We then went to a McDonnalds in the Pantheon Piazza. We must ask, why is McDonnalds so nice in Italy? It could have been a five star restaurant with the amazing view.
And thus, we must end the story of the longest week ever. The search for la vita bella continues....
Ciao, for now!
So much has happened this past week, it has been crazy and busy and hectic and a bit frantic but at the end of the day its been one of the best weeks of our life. We are planning to update the blog daily however this craziness that ensued this week made it tough to find time! So now, our story continues:
Wednesday, September 8-
This story begins on the gloomiest of all the mornings we have seen in our new city. The skies were dark and looked angry that we had to be up so early and they were threatening to ruin our trip to a local "agrotourismo farm" with our host school. However, as you learn in all things life has to offer, the show must go on. So with rain in sight we set off for the farm on a large bus. The 45 minute drive proved to be well worth it when, seemingly out of no where, the most beautiful lake appeared. Our director, Tina, went on to explain to us that the residence of Rome flock to these hills in the summer to get away from the heat of the city. The lakes were formed from the volcanoes that used to be in this region and were actually in the calderas. These lakes are so beautiful (as you will see) and at the top of the lake ridge was one of the most stunning houses we had ever seen. We were wondering if we could convince our dad to get it for us when we found out it was the Popes summer residence, complete with an observatory.... I guess we wont be getting that one any time soon. Side note- for those of you that have seen or read the Da Vinci Code this is the residence that they go to for the meeting with the Pope.
About 15 minutes later we arrived at the farm. This, however, was unlike any "farm" we had ever seen. It was complete with a bed and breakfast and a vineyard. Not to mention the riding arena and the fully functioning restaurant and farmers market. Everyone was starving and very excited to get right there and eat the fabulous four course meal that Tina had been describing all day when we were whisked off into the wine and olive oil making factory there. It was very informative, although the owner only spoke Italian, and it was exciting to see how it was all made. After this we all nearly sprinted to the lunch tables and were promptly served an antipasti plate, complete with a tomato stuffed with something that seemed like fish and cubes of what Liz is pretty sure was raw ham... Still starving, the first real course came. It was the most amazing, mouth watering pasta with a carbonera sauce we have ever tried. (and, it to date is the only meal that we would love to have every minute of every day.) Now, very full, the second course came- how do Italians eat like this?- it was pork in a cream sauce with baked potato wedges. Then, as if that wasn't enough, they came around with giant plates of homemade cookies and lemonciello. The lemonciello is supposed to be good for the digestion of the meal- I would agree if its meant to make you throw up... I digress.
After the meal we all went to the market and stocked up on fabulous wine, olive oil, jam and the best and cheapest produce we have ever seen. Right as we were all about to leave the sky decided it couldn't just be gloomy any more, it poured harder than we have ever seen.
When we got home we siestad then woke up just in time for dinner. This was the first real meal on our own and we were excited to be greeted as locals at the restaurant next to our school called Risto. The owner, Alessandro, loves us all and is even cooking a thanksgiving dinner for us!! Oh and he calls Liz "Queen Elizabeth", a name that she thinks is extremely fitting.... :)
The only other eventful thing to report is that Kelsey and Rachel ordered what they thought was a small cup of Nutella flavored gelato and turned out to be literally a cup full of Nutella.... which we proceeded to devour and thus felt extremely un-well.
Thursday, September 9-
A beautiful, sunny and overwhelmingly hot day greeted us this morning as we began the day on a walking tour of Rome. First, however, Queen Elizabeth (Liz) had her first of what she likes to call "little coffees", or to the rest of the world, espresso shots served in the worlds teeny-tiniest baby coffee mugs. The walking tour was beautiful as we went to the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and the Campo de Fiori. Quick side note- a kid in our tour threw his coin into the fountain and it bounced back out... looks like he won't be coming back to Rome...what a bummer.
After the tour we took a siesta and cooked dinner for our new found best friends, Kelsey and Rachel. (This is where the day gets interesting) We decided we needed to redeem our nutella-gelato mix up by getting some more gelato which led to us all being surrounded by a group of old Italian men who wouldn't leave us alone. They asked for a picture, then one asked if Liz would marry him, and another grabbed Katie's wrist and wouldn't let go.... then Liz grabbed Katie's other wrist, which became a game of human tug-of-war. Liz Won. Later, when we were back in our room going to sleep a metal marble got thrown into our bedroom window. Liz just about lost it. Katie was indifferent, which made Liz more upset....
Friday, September 10-
Tivoli Day!!!! For those of you that don't know about Tivoli and the old Villa de Este (not the hotel) it is a beautiful hill town on the outskirts of Rome that has beautiful gardens and castles and an adorable town. Oh and, most importantly, it is where many scenes in the Lizzy McGuire Movie were filmed!!! (This clearly put Liz back in a better mood, for those of you that were worried.) We spent almost an entire day there, check out the video for so much more on this as words literally can not describe the overwhelming beauty of this place. Side note-Katie is getting married there.
When we got back our dear friends Rachel, Kelsey, Emma and Jordan made us dinner at their apartment, which we got very lost trying to find.... Then we all went out to Campo di Fiori for a fabulous first night out in Rome. We met up with Kelsey's boyfriend Chris and all of his roommates and many other kids from our program that made for a very fun night.
Saturday, September 11
We want to first say God bless the USA, as we remember the terrible tragedy nine years ago. It is expected but sad that no one here even thinks twice about it. We decided that since orientation was finally over, and we no longer needed Arcadia to change our diapers for us we would wander through the city ON OUR OWN! This meant navigating our way around and riding the tram by ourselves. Kelsey, Rachel, Dan, Eric, Chris and Jon all joined us as we set out into the picture perfect streets of Rome. We saw the Pantheon, the Spanish steps and The Trevi Fountain. All I can say is thank goodness for Liz. She claims to know anything and everything about the historical sites in Rome, and was quick to tell everyone all she knew about who died where, why he was important, where his tomb is...yada yada yada. She must get that random trivia thing from Mom. The boys thought this was so funny that they wanted to steal/find a flag for Liz to hold up to signify her official job as tour guide.
Now, we have to stop for a moment to tell you about our glorious stop for dunch (or linner). We went to McDonalds. This was unlike any McDonalds we have ever seen. The doors parted and in we walked. There was a bar to our right serving anything from espressos to wine, and to the left there was a soft serve and gelato bar. We walked downstairs, under a tunnel and climbed our way to what we now know is the most wonderful McDonalds in the world!!! It looks like a chic, modern night club, only its swarming with heathens. I would have guessed the middle school just got out, but it was Saturday. So the girls wear their bras up to their necks on their backs, and like to wear tops that show as much as their bra as possible. Oh and they sag their skinnys to show the matching thong! Classy. Really though, where are their mothers? We ended the day by going out in Testacchio to the clubs. We danced literally all night long on the roof terrace of Coyote. Clubs don't start bumpin' until 2am here, so needless to say it was a long night, but we had an amazing day!!!
Sunday, September 12-
Today Katie needed some extra sleep while Liz got up and decided to wander the streets of her new town. Her friend Jordan accompanied her and they began their long trek to the Vatican from Trastevre. It was a beautiful walk full of delightful conversation and an excess of getting lost trying to find the Vatican. We then went to meet Katie (who almost got lost on the single line tram... go figure) so we could all make our way to the Colosseum. Along the way we discovered the difference between a panini, a panino and a panina- all various types of sandwiches given specific names based on their "classifications".... (ok maybe we had to much time on our hands for this one...) The walk along the forum was beautiful and to be honest seeing the Colosseum really never gets old.
After a lovely dinner, that Katie made, we went with a bunch of friends down to the Scholars Lounge- an Irish bar- to watch some good old fashioned American Sunday football! It was an amazing time with some AMAZING American food- wings, nachos, fries.... mmmmm! We also met some amazing people, including a couple from England with the best accent we have ever heard and some other students studying in Rome including our new friend, Cuyler (like Tyler with a C instead of a T). We then went to a McDonnalds in the Pantheon Piazza. We must ask, why is McDonnalds so nice in Italy? It could have been a five star restaurant with the amazing view.
And thus, we must end the story of the longest week ever. The search for la vita bella continues....
Ciao, for now!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Primo Giorno (Day One....)
Bonjourno mi amici,
Day one kicked off with a pickup from our apartment, about 30 min after the time they said they would arrive... And thus began what I believe to be the theme of the trip. EVERYTHING is slow here, its wonderful don't get me wrong but even the teachers and administrators are late to show up for meetings! Its an interesting adjustment that may take some time to get used to.
-Side Note- Lindsey, Katie and I were the last ones from our group to be dropped off and when the bus driver went to pull our bags off he asked the director of Arcadia if we were there to study or model hahahaha. I guess our bags were heavy? -
We then toured around the city in a very scary bus... which isn't that odd because I'm 99 percent certain that you have to be "certified crazy" to get your licence in Rome... (He drove down the metro tracks.... ya.) But we did get some really pretty pics of Rome and it definitely helped to orient us- sort of. From there we went to this little Pizzaria, which had relatively good food and very beautiful waiters. And might I say Katie was our end of the table's saving grace last night! Since she knew Italian they were all talking to her and the cute one, named Antonio, told her to bring us all back to have dinner again! Ahhhh! (the video depicts this and what I like to call our new posse very well)
1- Apparently Italians don't believe in actual food for breakfast... We ended up eating ham sandwichs that were on white bread with about a pound of mayo.... mmmmm We love mayo for breakfast. Why that you may ask?? They only had that, a rotisserie chicken or pizza....
2- Our room got to school on time, everyone else was late
3- We listened to people talk for five hours
4- They served wine.... with our buffet lunch ....AT THE SCHOOL. I will only pose this question once... Where are we?!
5- We went to get phones/SIM cards, the store (that was similar to ATT) was out of phones...
6-We all got lost on our way to the "Apritivo" reception at 9, they only served bruchetta and wine (And it was in a bookstore).
7- There are crazy scary recycling regulations here!! Very strange.
8-We walked the 4.5 miles home- which was amazing! Everyone in America needs to start walking more. And do it with a Gelato :)
Ciao, for now!
Getting there...
After much anticipation the day has finally arrived. Katie and I woke up early to the nerves and excitement of our journey and the anticipation of, no not the flight as you may have guessed, pancakes- not just any pancakes, Daddy pancakes! With Katie ready to go and Liz- well- not, we were scurrying around trying to fit all the last minute things into our very over-weight suitcases. However, as a side note Liz still managed to be at Target at about 8:15 am to get the first season of Jersey Shore.... I digress, with a beautiful prayer and a leisurely meal we all were feeling at ease and were quite certain that the trip would run as smoothly as possible. Little did we know what was about to unfold...
With all the bags and ourselves crammed into the car we were making our way to DIA (the Denver airport), when something triggered Liz to remember something very important. The conversation went something like this:
Liz- "Mom.... Did you give me back my passport?"
Mom- "Of course, its packed into your carry on"
Liz- "ummm... no its not..."
Katie- "you've got to be kidding me"....
To say the least the ride and send off at the airport was easily the most stressful hour long period of our lives to date. Between getting to the airport a whopping 41 min before our flight took off, thus, not thinking that we would make the plane, to then being positive that our bags would miss the flight it was a headache of an experience.
However, we are happy to report that the trip from Denver to Rome was one of the most enjoyable flights of our life. Upon boarding the aircraft in Chicago, we were greeted with champagne which we happily took to toast the beginning of this fabulous chapter of our life's. Then we made our dinner selections, which was fabulous by the way, and settled into our double pod space to watch our very own marathon of Entourage followed by Letters to Juliet (which was fitting as it takes place in Italy). From there we reclined our seats into a bed and had the most restful four and a half hours of sleep.
Upon arrival in Rome we met our roommate and fellow DU student Lindsey at the gate and went through passport control. Here Liz was asked what she studying to which she gave a very puzzled look before realizing the question was asked in English.... (Lets blame that on sleep deprivation, shall we?) Once through, we struggled and wrestled with our bags all the way through customs where we went on a hunt for Arcadia staff to lead the way.
With only a few minor hold ups we made it to our beautiful two bedroom apartment that more than exceeded our meager expectations of a Roman student apartment.
Much more of our adventures of the first day in Rome to come...
Ciao, for now.
With all the bags and ourselves crammed into the car we were making our way to DIA (the Denver airport), when something triggered Liz to remember something very important. The conversation went something like this:
Liz- "Mom.... Did you give me back my passport?"
Mom- "Of course, its packed into your carry on"
Liz- "ummm... no its not..."
Katie- "you've got to be kidding me"....
To say the least the ride and send off at the airport was easily the most stressful hour long period of our lives to date. Between getting to the airport a whopping 41 min before our flight took off, thus, not thinking that we would make the plane, to then being positive that our bags would miss the flight it was a headache of an experience.
However, we are happy to report that the trip from Denver to Rome was one of the most enjoyable flights of our life. Upon boarding the aircraft in Chicago, we were greeted with champagne which we happily took to toast the beginning of this fabulous chapter of our life's. Then we made our dinner selections, which was fabulous by the way, and settled into our double pod space to watch our very own marathon of Entourage followed by Letters to Juliet (which was fitting as it takes place in Italy). From there we reclined our seats into a bed and had the most restful four and a half hours of sleep.
Upon arrival in Rome we met our roommate and fellow DU student Lindsey at the gate and went through passport control. Here Liz was asked what she studying to which she gave a very puzzled look before realizing the question was asked in English.... (Lets blame that on sleep deprivation, shall we?) Once through, we struggled and wrestled with our bags all the way through customs where we went on a hunt for Arcadia staff to lead the way.
With only a few minor hold ups we made it to our beautiful two bedroom apartment that more than exceeded our meager expectations of a Roman student apartment.
Much more of our adventures of the first day in Rome to come...
Ciao, for now.
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