Cilento: I've never eaten so much pizza.

It may sound like a dream, but in actually eating pizza 5 times in 3 days really gets at your digestive tract. Our school-sanctioned venture to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea began on Friday with a 4 hour bus ride. We stopped at the grocery store before leaving, and a friend and I picked up a slice of pre-made pizza rosso (#1). It was gorgeous as we drove along the Amalfi Coast boarding mountains and the sea much of the time. Living in Rome I am so used to seeing ancient buildings in a crowded city, not so much open terrain. It was refreshing and until this point in my life probably the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. Our first stop was to a farm to see the buffalo that make mozzarella di bufala, a fresh version of mozzarella that is usually the only acceptable kind here in Italy. They were hideous, but damn do they make good cheese. We had pizza there for lunch (#2). 

We then drove further south to a seaport to see how fisherman caught their supply of fish, octopuses, and other sea creatures for consumption. The octopuses (octopi?) weren't even dead as we watched them all squirm around inside their cartons. Our hotel was in a small town called Eboli, not unlike the disease. The restaurant we went to was a classic hometown pizzeria (#3). They had karaoke and the Italians hogged it all. Needless to say I was very upset as I love to sing. We went home late that night as meals were brought our every 45 minutes, and we were dead tired so we passed out early.

The next day we travelled to a little town called Piope to visit...another buffalo farm. Here we got to try their fresh (just made) mozzarella di bufala and pudding and like the first farm, it was spectacular. My expectation for food quality has increased drastically, so America better be able to keep up. We then visited  an aquarium for an hour...which was actually just a room with fishtanks in it. It was cool for 5 minutes, but once you've been to the Shedd, it's hard to compete. Communicating with a small-town Italian butcher was near impossible, but eventually we found ourselves with a lunch: Cold cut sandwich with fresh EVERYTHING.

We then travelled to the ancient city of Paestum, where the ruins of ancient greek temples still stand from roughly 400 B.C. as some of the oldest in Italy. It was unbelievable to see; however, the two hour tour like the aquarium tour was unnecessary and quite lengthy. A nap followed our trip to the ancient city and when I awoke, I found myself at another pizzeria (#4). This was a pizza factory where they made tons of different pizzas, and our group was given a slice of each of around 6 pizzas, including a nutella and peanut pizza for dessert. When we got back, we decided to show Eboli how America does a Saturday night...Eboli will probably never recover from the debauchery (Just kidding...they'll be fine in a few weeks).

Sunday we travelled to the coastal town of Salerno. It had been fairly cloudy all weekend, but the sun came through for us and after yet another "educational tour" to the botanical gardens of Salerno (which looked a lot like my backyard but with a great view) we spent some free time down on the beach. I couldn't have pictures a better way to relax. We had our last meal of the trip at a restaurant called Trinon where we enjoyed a nice pizza (#5). This was different, as it was the best pizza I have ever had. It was called Pizza Forte, and was made with spicy salami, grilled peppers, garlic, basil, and parsly. It wasn't too complex, but the quality of the ingredients made it utterly drool-worthy. The pizza itself was bigger than the plate it was served on, but nonetheless I ate the whole thing. It put me in a food coma that served the 4 hour bus ride back well as the perfect sleep aid.

I cannot express in words how badly I want to go back to Southern Italy sometime in my life, but I tried really hard just now...I may have something other than pizza next time

Barcelona: Beaches and...beaches.

Thank you Dad for hounding me to get on this as I was about to surf the internet for about 7 hours and completely forget. Around yesterday morning at 8am, I got back from my weekend in Barcelona. I didn't do too much there, but what I did do was amazing and fantastic and proved to make Barcelona one of my favorite abroad destinations.

The group I was travelling in got to Barcelona around 11pm on Thursday. We had tickets to a concert at one of Barcelona's premier nightclubs (anked among the top 5 in the world!) So we didn't have much time to waste. The concert was a blast and I even ran into some friends from home who made it out as well. It was a pleasant surprise that made the night that much more enjoyable. We got back to our hostel at the reasonable hour of 7 in the morning. Needless to say the next day was going to be spent relaxing quite a bit.

We woke up around noon Friday and headed toward our next hostel for the weekend...too bad it didn't exist! We searched and searched and searched but after checking the address three times and even going into the building it was suppose to be in, we still could not locate it. we found a nicish hotel with vacancy for only a night, so we decided to book it in hopes that something else would open up the next night. After getting settled, we headed toward the beach area to have lunch at a little place called "Bo de B." It has since become my favorite sandwich place in the world. They take a baguette, fill it to the top with marinated chicken, and then put on your ingredients. After the feta, avocado, lettuce, tomato, corn, lentils, and peppers I could barely fit it into my mouth to take a bite...but barely was enough for me. I vow to go back to Barcelona simply for the sandwich. 

We made our way to the beach finally to catch some rays. It turned out to be a lot of rays, as we were there for around 5 or 6 hours! People were enjoying the 80 degree perfect day and deep blue sea that spanned as far as you could see. There were women walking up and down the beach offering oil and massages for 5 euro. I didn't get one, but I saw the subsequent sunburn that resulted from it after my friend got one. 

That night Marisa and I met Jenna, my friend who is studying abroad there for dinner. We went to a vegetarian place called Sesamo. Despite the horrendous service (seated at 930, fed at 11!) we had a lovely dinner and caught up on tons of stuff. After dinner we were so tired we decided to go home, but as we were walking we heard some great music coming from the building above us. It turned out to be a jazz club called 41 North where the artist was playing something called flamenco fusion jazz. It had a very unique sound and we ended up staying there for a good portion of the night.

The next day began at the beach again, as our attempts to sneak into the W hotel to use their luxury pool was thwarted by the doorman. To be honest I never really expected it to work (with four 20 year olds saying that they stayed there) so I wasn't terribly disappointed. After a few hours there one of my suite-mates and I decided to venture to Las Ramblas, the famous street of shopping and pickpocketing to try what was purported to be the best falafel in Barcelona. After an hour of searching it was evident that, while not the best that I've had, it was really really good. Stuffed, we realized with the discrepancy between geographic location and time zone that it was 7pm, despite the sun still blistering above. We went to a restaurant pretty soon after that, but I didn't eat much. After that I turned in early and decided to rest up for the next day instead of go out.

Sunday I was excited and poised to do some real sightseeing. We began at the Segrada Familia which, as you'll tell by the video I've uploaded, is the most spectacular structure I've ever seen hands down. It is an utter mastery of design, and it is safe for me to say that Gaudi is now my favorite architect. It is very pagan in style and is grandiose in so many ways I cannot describe. Please do your best to feel as infinitely humbled as I did upon my first steps into this extravagant church.

We left Segrada Familia to enjoy yet another meal from the sandwichery-from-heaven Bo de B, after which we continued our Gaudi tour and went to Parc Guell, which is the park which Gaudi designed. Gaudi did to this park exactly what he had done to the church, which is made it absolutely spectacular. The shapes, constructions, and layout was unlike anywhere I had ever been before. His work inspired me to actually emote as opposed to stare and simply say "cool." I have never been moved by artwork as much as I had been this day. That night's dinner was spent at one of Barcelona's most exclusive restaurants, Carpe Diem Lounge Club. It was asian themed, and as you'll see, far more decadent than we had expected, but of curse a delicious meal ensued. To sum it up, I may like sushi now.

The last part of my trip was spent at a bar called Dow Jones. The concept of the bar was that they treated drinks like stocks. When demand for one particular kind went up, so did the price; on the other hand, when drinks weren't being purchased frequently, prices went down. It was an amazing idea and a great time as well. I hope someday i will find a bar like that in the states, where the bar does not only provide the beer, but the games as well.

All in all I can whole-heartedly say that short of a few unavoidable gripes, Barcelona was an absolutely amazing city and I plan on going back if I ever get the chance. Updates on Spring Break still on their way...sometime;.

Rural Italy is awesome Italy

So this week I went to a farm just north of Roma. This farm produces mainly cheese from its various sheep and goats, but it also makes and grows all of the food used in its on-site restaurant. As we entered the farm we found ourselves traversing up a long and winding road and ending up next to a gorgeous lake surrounded by hills on all sides. This place truly was a paradise (next to the poop smell). We met the owner and learned about different kinds of cheese production and...well just that, but we got to make some ourselves as well! After a quick tour of the farm and its goings on, we came back for a lovely lunch of cheese, bread, cheese, quiche, cheese, artichoke something, and more cheese. A lot of the cheese was actually fairly bland, and not well liked by me, but one was exceptionally good. Needless to say this was like a dream lunch come true and felt quite nauseous (happily) the rest of the day.

I'm also off to the Roma vs. Juventus soccer game today. Roma has lost 10-11 of their last match-ups, but tonight could be different...right? RIGHT?

Venice: Water everywhere

Welcome back! I'm sure its been a while since anyone has checked this...probably because it's been a while  since I've checked this. I have all of spring break to write about. Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, and London will all be written about in due time, but since it's a lot to cover I'll be spreading those posts out over the course of...a bit of time. For now however, let's play a little game of catch up.

So a long time ago I went to this place called Venice. Although I was only there for one day, I accomplish a lot of what I had hoped, and found the city surrounded by water to be one of my favorite up to that point. One of the most amazing views I have had abroad was from the train on the way to Venice. Surrounded by industrial areas at first, I wondered what was so spectacular about Venice, and even began to debate whether I should've gone...and then I saw it. One second I was looking out at cranes and dirt and stuff; the next second I could see nothing but calm blue waves and the sea on all sides. It took me completely by surprise and immediately a wave of tranquility fell over me. It wasn't long before I was on the island and realized that I was surrounded by canals: All boats, no cars.

All in all, Venice was pretty straightforward. I walked from the train station to Piazza San Marco, which despite lacking quantities of old gigantic buildings was still a fantastic sight due to its quality. My roommate and I hopped on a student tour of the San Marco Palace where the old monarchy found itself and parliament held office. We skipped the tour of the basilica, but it certainly looked interesting from the outside. We then met up with a couple of the girls on our trip and took a gondola ride around Venice. Seeing Venice from the water looking up was a perspective I could never imagine without seeing it for myself and it was breathtaking. After the gondola ride, we all went shopping for murano glass, a specialty of Venice, and truth be told there was some beautiful glass on the Rialto Bridge where all of the nice shops are. I bought a vase for my mommy.

After that night fell. Dinner and a night of wandering aimlessly and sneaking into Hilton hotels on neighboring islands ensued...the water is very still at 5 in the morning.

Spring Break really sneaks up on you

I promise to update Venice soon, I've had midterms all week...and now I leave. Wow.

My trip consists of Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, and ending in London. Jetsetter.

Excursion #4? I can't remember

I'm bad at timing things but um...I'm going to Venice for the day. Hope I can cram in as much as possible like gondolas...and some other stuff...

Go water.

I should really start carrying my camera around...

There are few truer statements than the above. I often times find myself in the most interesting places, yet have no means of capturing their beauty due to my lack of foresight. This week really took the cake in that regard.

On Wednesday night we met our Italian counterparts for dinner in an area of Rome we had never been before called Magliana I believe. I might be wrong, but its been typed and its too late to google whether or not it is in fact the name of where the restaurant was located. Anyways, it was a lovely time (language barriers and all) and we planned on meeting Thursday morning to go to another place we had never been called EUR, which is on the outskirts of Rome and is known as the affluent part of the city. We missed the first bus there by mere footsteps, and the next bus came 45 minutes later. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

We finally got to the area and were all immediately struck by it. Unlike the center of Rome, which is nearly all metropolitan with old buildings and streets as wide as my wingspan, EUR was covered in lush green grass and skyscrapers. It was clear we were in a totally different area. We walked past a manmade lake on a path called "Passegiata Giapponese" which means "Walkway of Japan." I could not give a good reason it is called this, as it looks nothing like Japan architecturally, naturally, or otherwise; however, it may be due to the overwhelming sense of serenity that passes over you while looking out onto the blue lake and fountains. We continued to explore the area, coming across the Square Colosseum. This was a building erected in 1935 under the fascist rule of Mussolini. It is mainly a convention space now, but our Italians told us that due to it's origins, they oft do not promote the building, despite its intriguing facade.

I also went to a club last night called "Goa" which is supposedly one of the more exclusive clubs in Rome. As we entered we immediately noticed that unlike many other clubs and bars where other exchange and foreign students frequent, this bar was nearly 100% Italian. It was a very cool building with tons of decoration that purported its exclusivity.