TO BOARD THE PLANE OR NOT TO BOARD THE PLANE?

After three months abroad, I feel like Italy has become my home. 3 more flights, 2 more buses and a car ride until I am back in good old Trumbull, Connecticut. Still is unbelievable. I’m debating whether to enroll in summer classes or just handcuff myself to the airport and refuse to leave. Although I want to see my family and friends of course, I have become so comfortable here in Europe and am not quite sure I want to leave yet…..Knowing my mother would kill me if I “accidently” missed my flight, Kenz and I had no other choice but to board the plane. Thank you Europe and more specifically Italia for giving me all the memories I have made over the last three months and lessons I have learned. Hopefully I will be back sooner than later, but for now Arrivederci! 

YOU SOUND LIKE YOU’RE FROM LONDON: LAST LEG OF THE JOURNEY

Last city on our European excursion. Glad we bumped into the one and one MEEKS who was able t o give us a tour around London. Beautiful day out, extremely nice people and beautiful buildings. Big Ben more than fitting, snapped some pics at the Thames River, eye of London, Westminster Abby then headed over to Buckingham Palace to see if we could get a reaction out of the guards. The city was very crowded not only because it is tourist season, but because the royal wedding is in a week! We became cultured by eating at a little English Pub next to our fab hotel (props to kenz) and enjoyed some fish and chips. Attempted to go out downtown which reminded me a little of Times Square The entire city of London actually reminded me a lot of NYC, because of the fast pace life style, but the people were much nicer and there was little no garbage anywhere. Found this a bit odd because there were no garbage cans to be found either, not sure how they keep the place so clean. The next day we visited the London Towers, and London Bridge, and no it is not falling down. Great two days in London, wish it could have been longer. We were finally blessed with awesome weather. Took a train back to Meek’s uncle’s house in Harpenden where we hung out by the pool and played “Live like you were Dying” and “If I could do it Again” on repeat while reminiscing about the semester. Tried to get some rest before we had to wake up at 2 to get on a flight back to Venice to pick up our luggage.

Big Ben 

MY 21st IN AMSTERDAM

Wok to Walk 

To celebrate our 21^st birthday, Mackenzie and I decided to take a little weekend trip to Amsterdam. Our neighbors from CIMBA, Kahle and Devann decided to join us (thank godness because we were already going through withdraw from not seeing everyone and it hadn’t even been 24 hrs). First few moments in Amsterdam were not so pleasant. Our bad luck, managed to follow us to Holland unfortunately. Kahle had to pay 140 Euro because her bag was over weight (tips for traveling: Pack light. Never fly transavia. Pack light), our bank cards didn’t work when we got to the hotel (tip for banking: don’t use Wachovia-they will change to Wellsfargo and not tell you), and the ticket machines for the train stations only take coins (tip for using public transportation: don’t). Once again, we learned…..everything is a process, so take it with a grain of salt. After we got all the mishaps out of our systems and eventually got into the city of Amsterdam, we were more than awed by the culture and exciting atmosphere. Bright lights and buildings lined the streets, we all concluded Amsterdam was a mixture of old and new.  Due to amazing reviews by Cimbites who had gone, we were persuaded to eat at “Wok to Walk” a Chinese restaurant, which most definitely met our expectations.  Ringing in our 21^st in Amsterdam could not have been more enjoyable thanks to Devann and Kahle. We spent the next day touring the city, visiting the Heineken Brewery (so cool with interactive displays, I would suggest going), the I AMSTERDAM sign, the Anne Frank house (so glad we went, interesting and learned a lot, house is way bigger than expected-2 years she was hidden there and died 1 month before liberation). While in the city we had the please of eating another delicious Chinese meal with Muna and Marco-they could not have been more generous and helpful in navigating through the canal streets. Ate at little café on a small side street, picked up some souvenirs and then headed back to our comfortable beds with some wine to call it a night. So happy we got to spend out birthday in Europe, not your typical 21^st.

Devann, Me, Kenz, and Kahle at Heineken Brewery

END OF A DREAM.

April 15, 2011: Last night with the Cimbites in Venice. No word other than “bittersweet” can be used to describe the last day spent on campus and night in Venice with everyone. We all went to the Tabacchi for one last splug before we packed it up and headed out to Venice for our last night together. It seemed unreal when we all loaded our luggage onto the bus. It was almost as if we had just done this the other day when we moved into our rooms. We all were in shock at how fast the semester has flown by. Still has not hit me yet that it is over. Hands down, this has been the best decision of my life to study abroad. I have had the opportunity to travel all over Europe, have had some of the best professors in college and have been blessed to have met some of the most incredible people from all across the U.S. who have made this experience unforgettable for me. The memories are unreal. The last meal was delicious (as any other meal in Italy has been) chatted it up with the girls then headed to Saint Margarita square to say goodbye to everyone, which was incredibly sad to say the least. It is difficult to imagine not seeing these faces I have seen everyday for the last three months. Let’s just say I’m thinkin I will be booking flights to KU and Iowa sometime in the near future…..If I had to sum up this semester I would use the well know quote by the one and only Cory Smith: “If I could do it again, you know I’d do it the same.” PDG 2011-love you all and miss you already. Thank you for making this semester so special, god bless yall.

gypsies 

You know you go to CIMBA when....

1. You are still trying to figure out what CIMBA stands for

2. You wonder why the U.S. hasn’t come up with the cappuccino machine yet

3. Your nights consist of the Paderno bar crawl: Sports bar, Hotel bar, Al Sole (in that order).

4. You can wake up 5 minutes before class and still be early. 

5. You know exactly what you're having for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

6. You know what a Tabacchi is.

7. "Life" has a different meaning. 

8. You travel almost as much as you have class (25 days to travel, 40 days of class).

9. Al Ringleb is God.

10. Your shower curtain serves no purpose, whatsoever. 

11. Do you see where I'm going with this?

12. The maids clean your room twice a week.

13. Sea Bass and Corky are normal names. (Love you boys)

14. Your teachers know you go out every night because there is NOTHING else to do in Paderno. 

15. Fabio knows his jams. 

16. Your news feed after about 2 weeks consists solely of CIMBA students and their travel plans.

17. The computers in the library are used to print boarding passes and hostel reservations. 

18. You fight over the balsamic and oil at dinner.

19. You know more about Christina than you should.

20. Don't bother trying to go to sleep early because you WILL be woken up by your neighbors. 

21. You see the 13 year old Italian students chain smoking cigarettes on a daily basis. 

22. Your tests will GUARANTEED not be multiple choice.

23. You do a DA when choosing what to wear in the morning. 

24. 98.5% of students are involved in Greek Life at their home universities. 

25. 70% of students are from KU or Iowa.

26. Anyone that goes to Iowa is from Chicago.

27. When in doubt say Prego. (It has 10 meanings)

28. You call Fran "Frannie" and you w ish she was your grandmother.  

29. You would die for Mexican food.

30. It's acceptable to drink with your professors.

31. You are friends with the bartenders on Facebook.

32. You SHOULD recognize every face on campus, but you don't.

33. Office staff is on a power trip. 

34. You wear the same outfit three times a week.

35. The old men that walk around are ACTUALLY  ghosts.

36. If you don't travel on weekends, you're missing out BIG TIME.

37. You have absolutely no idea what is going on in the U.S. nor do you care.

38. You go to hostelbookers or hostelworld almost as much as you check your Facebook.

39. You curse the exchange rate. 

40. You might pay less for a flight on Ryanair than you would for a six pack.

41. You fall asleep everyday in class. Get real. No one can last an hour and 45 mins. 

42. You single handedly keep both Tabacchis in business

BARCELONA PART DOS

Kenz, Kennedy and Me

Because I’ve already been to Barcelona, this is going to be an abbreviated post. Everyone that we became close with planned to go to Barcelona for the last weekend, so we wanted to be with them and decided to return to this one of a kind city. 85 and sunny was the weather, could not have been more perfect for a relaxing weekend on the meet. Bumped into Terry on the side of the road. If I’ve learned anything in the last three months, it is that the world is smaller than you think it is. Some highlights of the trip: laidback luke, champagne (tapas), laura and fainna=life savers, Hacienda-best mexican ever, no phones=no good. 

CINQUE TERRE

Ciao my friends. 2 weeks, that’s it. That is all I have left in Europe. Unbelievable. Because of this disheartening reality, all of us “cimbities” wanted to spend every waking minute we could together so we organized a bus trip to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre or “Five Lands” is a popular location to visit on the West coast of Italy because of its uniqueness. This is an area of five villages build into the mountains and hills of this beautiful cove. It was an awesome place to visit because it was different than any other place I have been in Italy. The sights were beautiful and unforgettable. We stayed in Monterosso because that is where the beach is! We spend Saturday soaking up the sun and enjoying each other’s company as we explored the rocks and surrounding area. Think 60 Americans was a bit overwhelming for this little village to handle…..singing “God Bless America” and the national anthem didn’t help. Such a surprise this weekend when we found out Jenna and her friends were spending the weekend in Cinque as well. It was great to see her as always and we were able to all hang out with each other’s friends. Went to dinner and was not the best experience….terrible service….and the food took forever, could have been because there was so many of us! (funny things: signing the dollar bill, who ordered 6 rusty nails, musical beds, midnight swim, hips don't lie, they don't they don't). Sunday we ventured to Vernazza, another of the towns-quaint little area with fishing boats, an awesome cliff we climbed and canyon type thing Hayes and I maneuvered to. All in all it was a relaxing weekend in a beautiful location. Life lesson I’ve learned for this weekend:  it is not where you are, it is who you are with.