The Amalfi Coast

The one trip that I took while in Italy and never got around to posting on here was to the Amalfi Coast! I feel like I have to post pictures because it's one of the most beautiful vacation spots around the country. It's known for amazing citrus fruits, delicious homemade limoncello, and beautiful beach weather during the spring and summer.

I had signed up for the trip not knowing anyone, but since I was going with my school, I ended up knowing just about everyone. That's what you get when your school is tiny! Katie and Nikki were my roomies. I couldn't have asked for more easy-going, fun people to end up travelling with.

We stayed overnight in Sorrento, the coastal town down in the southwest part of the boot. It was a lively town with amazing views. And the food was incredible!

Day one was Vesuvio! The weather ended up being disgusting. It was misting rain and completely foggy. We climbed to the top of Mount Vesuvius, but we couldn't see into the crater or out on to the bay. That made it kind of a bummer, but regardless, I climbed the active volcano!

[this says it all]

Day two was Pompeii and Naples. We first toured the ancient city and then were dropped off for some of the best pizza in the world. This was the SECOND time I got to eat Napolean pizza. I was a seriously happy girl.

[old frescoes in pompeian red]

[typical house]

[water collection pool inside a house]

[underground structures]

["McDonalds" - the old "fast food" type stands]

[amphitheater]

[ceiling of the baths]

[bath houses]

[body found]

[pictures as a "menu" in the brothel]

[brothel bed]

[suspended coffee - a donation left at "gambrinus", a coffee house in naples]

[bay of naples]

Day three was Capri! My cousin, Maddy, had told me it was her favorite part of Italy. I can see why! It's a small island near Sorrento. It's a bit pricey and has designer stores down near the bottom, but we found a little trail to hike down to the water. Then, going up to the top you get the best vantage point out over the water. I wish we would have left ourselves more time after taking the chairlift up from Anacapri because it blew me away how beautiful the view was.

[hiking around]

[pablo neruda wrote about the path we walked]

[my lovely friend Katie near the water]

[restaurant near the water]

[the famous rocks just off the coast]

[arugula & shrimp risotto for lunch]

[the chairlift up from anacapri]

[the view from the top of the island]

Once again, Italy could not fail to impress me. Such wonderful memories and lovely photos I just had to share :)

Ciao Roma

This is it. I'm sitting in my apartment for the last morning. I still refuse to accept it.

I cleaned out my cupboards and managed to pull together a pretty impressive breakfast.

And I stuffed my life into two suitcases and a backpack. Barely.

I didn't mind saying goodbye to this extremely uncomfortable bed.

I even remembered to thank our cleaning ladies who put up with six girls' messes!

Last night, we had a big dinner at Tony's with the crew! It's impressive that I think all of the AUR study abroads packed into one restaurant in Trastevere. Wine, bread, calamari, pasta, & tiramisu, helped us to drown our sorrows of saying goodbye! People with early flights left throughout the night as we all hit our favorite places in Campo dei Fiori one more time. It was a great and terrible night at the same time - so bittersweet. I hate goodbyes.

I'm the last of my roommates to leave, as I am incredibly lucky and will be joining up with a Topdeck tour of Eastern Europe in about two hours. Going it all alone, I finally can confidently say that I'm not nervous or scared, but so very excited! Meeting people from all over the world will be awesome and the places I'll explore with them are going to be unforgettable. After surviving and enjoying four months in Rome, I feel pretty ready to take on just about anything. So bring it on!

To all the friends I hugged last night, thank you for making this an absolutely amazing semester. To all the people I'm about to meet, I can't wait to make more memories with you. To all my friends & family at home, I'm looking forward to seeing your faces again.

Ciao Roma, I will return :)

Climbing the Cupola

Today is my LAST full day living in Rome. I still can hardly accept it. I've had the most amazing semester making lifelong friends, lasting memories, and venturing out of my comfort zone in ways I could have never imagined! I am beyond blessed and lucky to have experienced all these new adventures. 

One of the last things on my list of things to do was climb the dome of St. Peter's basilica. Katie, a friend I made here at AUR who happens to go to MSU, knows a priest who works at the Vatican. He kindly met us at the gates [after asking the Swiss Guards to ring him!] and brought us through Vatican City to the front of the line. We seriously did not have to wait one second. It was awesome. It's all about who ya know, right? We bought our tickets and embarked on the 500-some odd steps up to the top. 

First, you get to be so close to the mosaics of the drum you can actually touch them. Amazing. And the letters around the inside? They're SO tall!

Walking up was, aside from exhausting, really cool since we could feel the curve of the dome. At one point, I could lean on the wall and feel like I was standing straight up! I don't want to imagine how many dirty hands have been on it, though. There was a rope I refused to hold on to at one point for that exact reason. 

Here's what we saw halfway up.

It was ALL worth it once we got to the top! Just look at this amazing view of my beloved Roma :) 

Oh, yeah, I also met Michigan State up there! There were a group of guys who recognized my shirt. Spartans really are all over the world, I guess. Go green!

After we reached the top, we climbed all the way down and visited beneath the basilica, as well. Most of the public doesn't know, but you can go down and see the shrine of St. Peter and many pope's tombs. The early morning was so worth it - it was the perfect last adventure. 

Now I'm off to meet a huge group of friends at Tony's restaurant in Trastevere for one last, fun night! I can't believe I'll never see most of them ever again, but I plan to enjoy every second we have left together! Ciao.

Last on the List

The last item on my list was to find a place so small it had no name. And I did! It wasn't a "bar" [which I've explained is actually a coffee shop], but a bakery. At the very beginning of school, we were walking up Viale dei Quattro Venti to get to AUR and happened to see a line spilling out from underneath this green awning. The heavenly aroma coming from inside never failed to make our mouths water! It's said that if Romans line up for food, it must be good, so we assumed this was the best.

[There's really no line here but trust me! This way you can see the tiny counter of the bakery :) ]

Us four girls stopped in to grab a small treat - we got castagnoles. They definitely satisfied our sweet tooth :) [Recently, I discovered these are not standard Italian treats. They are only around during the time of Carnivale! I was heartbroken after falling in love with the sugary filled donut-like pastries.] I returned another day and grabbed two cookies for Gianna and I. They were yummy, but like most Italian cookies, crunchy instead of chewy. Grr.

Finally, I purposely made a trip back with the intention of eating something "real"! Lots of families stock up on bread from there, but in the back corner I spied a tray of pizza. I'm really going to miss pizza. It's just not the same back home. I ordered a slice with broccoli & sausage, one of my favorite combos. It was divine! The crust it was on was so fluffy and tasty with lots of flavor in the seasoning of the toppings. My only complaint is I wish it was warmed up - I can't even imagine how incredible it would have been fresh out of the oven! [I wish I'd gotten a picture, but I devoured it too quickly!]

All in all, a successful mission. I have no idea the name or address of the place. In fact, if you want to go, you have to go early. They close in the afternoon and you'd never know it existed without the awning over the tiny doorway. A true hidden gem :)

[mystery bakery, viale dei quattro venti]

Forza Roma!

For one last hurrah in Rome, a bunch of us decided to get tickets to a soccer game! Here it's not actually called soccer or futbol but "calcio". After failing to buy them in the tabacchi shop and figuring it out online, we got seven seats in Curva Nord, the AS Roma section as they played Juventis.

We all met at our beloved "top hat man" tram stop [which is officially called "Belli"] and walked over the bridge. Bus 280 took us right to the stadium. Well, actually it took an hour and was packed with sweaty people. It's a good thing I was with my friends who I love and could laugh at how miserable the public transportation actually was. Seriously though, we're all too poor to take cabs! Most people were headed to the stadium so the stop wasn't hard to find.

Spilling off into a crowd of people, we picked out AS Roma scarves as souvenirs. The security was intense - I had to get searched like three times, show my passport, and scan my ticket. Walking in, we were SO excited to be at Olympic Stadium [or "Stadio Olimpico"] & enjoy a game! It almost felt like fall with the atmosphere of football season. I leaped up the steps to see the field. 

It ended up being so much fun! The fans were crazy! There were no fights, but definitely lots of red & yellow smoke bombs were somehow snuck in. Lots of good soccer to watch, too, obviously!

Juventis has 97 points from the season [you get 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss]. Apparently no team has reached over 100 points so it was BIG for Juventis to win. Unfortunately for us Roma fans, they did :( The two 45 minute halves ended, but they add on time at the end for game delays. It ended up totaling four minutes and Juventis literally scored in the LAST SECOND. Boooo! 

Really though, we just went for the experience. It was awesome - I'm so glad I did! Forza Roma!

Assissi: A Medieval Beauty

On the theme of day trips that I seem to be posting about lately, I really need to catch up on this one! A while back, I went to Assissi, a medieval town home to St. Francis' basilica and remains. When I signed up for it, I didn't know anyone else going. It was through school, however, so I figured I'd make friends by then! Sure enough, walking up to Archi Bar to meet the group, there was Danny from my Italian class. Two of our other guy friends were on the trip, too. Good start!

Upon arriving, we climbed up the steps to the town. These old, walled cities are always on a hill and make for a great work out if you want to explore them! We met our tour guide and headed down the road.

We stopped to take in this gorgeous view before going inside the first church.

Apparently the lions on the church are the old symbols of popes - before they each had their own papal crest!

One of the churches we went in had hardly any frescoes left. I guess they used it for a hospital during the plague. To clean it, they poured chemicals on the walls which literally melted the paintings away. They saved the back altar, however, by quarantining the area. It was a strange look to have stark white walls and then a brightly decorated apse to the church! I think I have decided that I like Renaissance and Baroque work better than medieval, anyway, though.

Continuing on our way, we saw lots of little shops and restaurants tucked in throughout the city. It never gets old to me!

[this used to be a trough for horses to drink from]

We finally made it to St. Francis' basilica! After sitting down for a bit of a history lesson, we went down to the basement level to visit his tomb. Very powerful. Ironic, though, since most of the kids I was with were Jewish! At least they're adventurous, too, and appreciated exploring.

[no pictures allowed inside but this is the courtyard]

After lunch in town, we did a little more exploring of the winding pathways.

It was a quick afternoon, though, so we hopped back on the bus soon enough! Since my mom and dad were here visiting, it left me with plenty of time to come home, eat dinner with them, and go out to Trastevere for some of the BEST gelato. [Fior di Luna {Via della Lungaretta, 96} cannot be beat!]