And this is true with my time in Europe and Italy. With under a week left in Florence, my feelings are bittersweet. There are many things I am desperately looking forward to at home, but I am going to deeply miss this fantastically fascinating life adventure.
My adventures in Italy have redefined what I consider a blessing or challenge as I have been constantly pushed out of my comfort zone. The lines where I once drew my boundaries are blurred. I have not only seen things that I studied in years past, but I have been able to see parts of the world I couldn't have imagined. I found myself with a new freedom that only comes when you truly abandon everything you hold on to. Being in this place with the opportunity to land in a different country almost every weekend has opened my eyes to this amazing and wonderful life I am blessed with.
I have been able to travel around Italy; from my (home) in Florence, to Cinque Terre, to Via Reggio, to Venice, to Milan, to Prato and Perugia, to Assisi, to Pisa, to Rome, to Sorrento, to Pompeii. I have been able to explore Paris, experience Oktoberfest in Munich, and enjoy London. I have taken in the beauty of Burren and Galway and Dublin Ireland and strutted the streets of Barcelona like the true cheetah girl I am. I have revisited Amsterdam and been able to take in the city and suburbs of the Netherlands in a new light. These places hold so many memories that I will cherish in my heart for the rest of my life. I could not imagine a better fashion family, made up of all 47 of us, to experience this journey with. I have made so many amazing friends and I know that we will not only be close for the rest of our lives, but we will always look back on this semester together and relive our favorite moments.
And, heck, since I don't blog even twice a month, please allow me the pleasure of disclosing my latest adventures with you.
Rewind all the way back to when fall was just starting in Florence. November 7 my roommates and I (with only Cassie missing) embarked on a the scariest Ryanair flight that thankfully landed us safe in Ireland! Our travel plans were actually quite complicated. A train to Milan and a bus to the airport, a plane to Dublin and a train to Galway adds up to about 10 hours of travel. Not at all my favorite. Yet, we made it and we all enjoyed a Guinness and I scarfed down some lamb stew. We met the sweetest woman who worked at our hostel, her name was Donna, and she hooked us up with a day tour of the cliffs of moher and Burren national park for only 20 euros! The weather was perfect and we saw the most amazing sites. It was the most breathtaking thing I've ever seen. To witness the beauty in those places made that one of the the greatest days I've had in Europe. To see Gods creation; his masterful artistic talent and his majestic design, was absolutely, indescribably incredible.
We completed our tour of Ireland by exploring quaint Gallway and spending a day exploring Dublin. Kate and I had to go on a tour of the Guinness Storehouse and it was actually quite fascinating. We are now certified perfect pint pourers and taste testers!
We completed our tour of Ireland by exploring quaint Gallway and spending a day exploring Dublin. Kate and I had to go on a tour of the Guinness Storehouse and it was actually quite fascinating. We are now certified perfect pint pourers and taste testers!
Barcelona was a city I had amazing hopes for. I truly am the unspoken fifth cheetah girl that no one knew about. Paige and I, along with our friends Michael, Jenny, Paulinaa, and Kari adventured to this city together November 14. Just one week after our Ireland adeventures and with a project due the following Monday, the four of us design majors that went knew this was about to be a lot to handle. We spent our days discovering and Paige and I spent our nights in Starbucks coffee shops and one night almost pulled an all-nighter with Michael and Jenny. Talk about dedication. You gotta do what you gotta do.
Seeing the Sagrada Familia and work by Gaudi and la Rambla Catalunya was beyond breathtaking. It was also quite incredible that Barcelona is the home to the only Dunkin' Coffee in Europe. I was able to get real donuts instead of pastries!!!!
Amsterdam was such fun with one of my best friends, Kate! We had an eventful first two days hitting up the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank House and lots of parks and famous markets. Since Kate's best friend from high school is of Dutch origin and her familiy recently moved back to the Netherlands, we took a trip out to Leiden and Sassenheim to pay them a visit! It was such a fun, quaint part of the trip. They treated us not only to an amazing buffet style dinner in their humble home, but they also bought us cheese and stroopwafel from the street vendors to bring back home! What a sweet treat!!! I was even able to find a few odd gifts that I could cross off my Christmas shopping list!
Other than the traditional things I miss about home (ie my family, my dog, my house, my bed, my familiar surroundings, etc.) I find myself missing an assortment of miscellaneous (and possibly strange) pieces.
The English language. I miss being able to understand everything around me. As my Italian class this semester has proved mostly unhelpful, I haven't been able to get past "Bongiorno, vorrei un caffe espresso" in a conversation. It's such a beautiful language and I only wish that my five years of Spanish didn't confuse my brain. I also wish we would have started learning grammar instead of phrases. But that's where basic conversational Italian is supposed to take you...
24 hour electric heating. Since Italy does not produce their own electricity and have to import it from France, all heating elements are suspended for half of the day. Seriously, the heating in Italy is so controlled that we only get 12 hours. At night, it's 18 degrees Celsius. (About 65 degrees Fahrenheit) I am always shivering.
Hot and consistent water pressure in a shower. Not that you can't find that in Italy, our apartment, as nice as it is, is just a different story altogether. The water that randomly jumps to cooler temperatures mid-shower and will drop in pressure if someone is running water from the sink in the kitchen. The whole system is poorly designed.
Cell phone service. Try living your life with no connection except for limited Wi-Fi for four months. It's a hard knock life. To be able to call or text someone from anywhere and at anytime is such a blessing I always overlooked. (This is majorly satire. I may appear addicted to technology, but I do, in fact, know how to disconnect and focus on the more important things.)
My automobile. I miss being able to hop into my car and just go anywhere. I don't mind the extra steps (it's a great built-in calorie burner) but walking everywhere on cobblestones is really hard on shoes and feet and joints all over the body. Never have my hips been more out of line or my shoes fallen apart faster.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I have a lot to think about. I leave in three days. What am I going to do with this time? Tomorrow will be full of packing and getting organized, our final student exhibition, then going out to celebrate a birthday! Friday I'm FINALLY going to climb to the top of the Duomo with Colin! (Something I wanted to do the minute I got here but saved the best for last!) Early Saturday morning my roommates and I are climbing to the top of Piazzale Michelangelo one last time to watch the sun rise!!! Since Italy doesn't have any law against open containers, we're going to pop a bottle of champagne and walk around buying last minute gifts and souvenirs. That night there won't be time for sleep, we have to be out of our apartment and at the train station at 2:45 am!
Finally, after one more extremely long day of travel, I will be back in sweet home AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL!!! (Cue fireworks and epic soundtrack music)
I have three days. With so much more that I want to do, I guess I better get moving!
24 hour electric heating. Since Italy does not produce their own electricity and have to import it from France, all heating elements are suspended for half of the day. Seriously, the heating in Italy is so controlled that we only get 12 hours. At night, it's 18 degrees Celsius. (About 65 degrees Fahrenheit) I am always shivering.
Hot and consistent water pressure in a shower. Not that you can't find that in Italy, our apartment, as nice as it is, is just a different story altogether. The water that randomly jumps to cooler temperatures mid-shower and will drop in pressure if someone is running water from the sink in the kitchen. The whole system is poorly designed.
Cell phone service. Try living your life with no connection except for limited Wi-Fi for four months. It's a hard knock life. To be able to call or text someone from anywhere and at anytime is such a blessing I always overlooked. (This is majorly satire. I may appear addicted to technology, but I do, in fact, know how to disconnect and focus on the more important things.)
My automobile. I miss being able to hop into my car and just go anywhere. I don't mind the extra steps (it's a great built-in calorie burner) but walking everywhere on cobblestones is really hard on shoes and feet and joints all over the body. Never have my hips been more out of line or my shoes fallen apart faster.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I have a lot to think about. I leave in three days. What am I going to do with this time? Tomorrow will be full of packing and getting organized, our final student exhibition, then going out to celebrate a birthday! Friday I'm FINALLY going to climb to the top of the Duomo with Colin! (Something I wanted to do the minute I got here but saved the best for last!) Early Saturday morning my roommates and I are climbing to the top of Piazzale Michelangelo one last time to watch the sun rise!!! Since Italy doesn't have any law against open containers, we're going to pop a bottle of champagne and walk around buying last minute gifts and souvenirs. That night there won't be time for sleep, we have to be out of our apartment and at the train station at 2:45 am!
Finally, after one more extremely long day of travel, I will be back in sweet home AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL!!! (Cue fireworks and epic soundtrack music)
I have three days. With so much more that I want to do, I guess I better get moving!
