CINQUE TERRE

So this past weekend my program went to Cinque Terre, which is five villages on the Italian Riviera coastline. So after three different train rides, we arrived in Cinque Terre. Props to program advisor Chiara because she is like our own Peer Mentor (just abroad status). Sat on the last train surrounded by 3 Germans which complained about how useless and hard the Polish language is to learn... cool i'm gonna put in my iPod to drown you out, kthanks have a nice travel. When we train it by through the 5 villages and see the views of the Mediterranean Sea, unreal. Then we get off the Monterosso (the last village where our hotel was) and it's breathtaking views. The whole place looked like a computer screen background, not real life.

So the first day we get to hike the mountains between the villages, the first leg was hundreds (maybe even at least a thousand) stairs up a mountain then a half hour walk on this nice mountain sidewalk. You can't even see the horizon line because it is that hazy in the ocean. The water is so clear and this beautiful cerulean blue (look it up if you never used any crayola crayons like I did my entire childhood). Then the next leg was unfortunately closed for whatever reasoning, and the detour was a 2 hour hike up and around so we trained it to the 3rd village. Hiked like it was my job cutting an hour off the 2 hour hike to the 4th village with Katie, Kat, and Allison. I was in need for some endorphins and a nice hot ridiculous workout (though carrying a black bpack in the heat was a bit much, I dealt). Chilled in the forth village waiting around for other people to catch up, got an Italian slush which was EPIC. That limone slush drink was exactly what I needed after that portion of the hike, almost went back for a second one. Then we went to a small beach/rock/i dont know what by the Sea and swam in the MedSea! It was so refreshing and perfect temperature. Granted there were a few mishaps of people slipping on rocks getting in and bitter old Italian women nearby that would not mind their own business (imma do me, you do you). Regardless, so nice. Then we hiked the last an hour and half path in 45ish. Katie, Kat and I do not mess around with hiking. It was beyond nice to just see these Italian mountains and houses of them with vineyards and crazy, spectacular views of the Mediterranean. Oh yeah I forgot to mention the fact that we ran into Lauren Melaugh and Briana Burke twice in Cinque Terre. Casually running into Stonehill friends halfway around the world? CHECK. How ironic is it that they happened to be on the exact train we were on and then ran into them on the mountain path (which by the ways was extremely narrow and challenging to hike on). 

The next day I woke up early and Courtney, Ali, Lengel and I went down to a Monterosso beach and enjoyed the sunrise in the morning with an empty beach. I went around getting a bunch of seaglass to bring back home. The beach was a tad harsh when it came to the rocks on it though, but hey I'll take it anyday over Cape Cod, Lake Winnipesaukee, lakes in Maine, or any beach in Rhode Island. Hands down Mediterranean is the best body of water I've been in. Though it does rival the Bahamas a bit. So after getting lunch for the second day in a row at this small Focaccia place (I AM IN LOVE WITH FOCACCIA, it was so damn good and so damn cheap) we were supposed to go kayaking in the Sea, but Italy decided for once to rain. Now I love rain and thunderstorms so I have no problem with it, let me kayak in the rain I couldn't care less, but unfortunately we had to wait until it got nicer out but we did get to kayak. Yet another nice relaxing workout activity where I get to enjoy ridiculous unreal life views.

2 trains back to Florence, last one being 2 and a half hours, put on iPod, listened to Maroon 5 and boom conked out asleep the whole ride. So nice. 

Casual run in with Melaugh

Sporty B came into fruition 

om nom nom

not real.

definitely not real. looks like a travel brochure

I should really go hiking more often, I've always wanted to climb Mount Washington, so going to do it this summer.

narrow path way, rocks, plants, and dirt errwhere

casual dancing in the street of Cinque Terre, there was kids playing music and what looked like a seeming dance off.

I felt like I was on an island from LOST, minus all the LOST craziness.

Man in the Italian mountainside

Stolen Mediterranean seaglass

Titanic pose over the MedSea? check

whattup kayaking

my new screen saver

CHRONICLES OF ITALIAN CLASS SIDENOTES

My Italian professor Daniele is hilarious, which I've already stated but he really is. Today my class was seriously messing up the pronunciation of Cs. In Italian you pronounce C either like chi or k. So to his frustration he wrote down the word faccio, to which my whole class pretty much pronounced it fakio, when it should be phonetically said fachio. He wanted our class to get why we really shouldn't screw up saying the C because if one would say faccio like fakio, it sounds like fak-u, which Italians probably wouldn't do to well hearing an American saying fuck you when he/she really meant something completely different. Got me again Daniele, I also enjoyed him mocking people in my class when we screw up, gets us to learn Italian better without it being so.... boring.

THINGS I MISS

-Dunkin iced coffees... badly. I have decided to give up coffee completely while abroad to save money and because Italy does not have iced coffee (and if it does I don't want to know about it... talking to you Astor)
-Ramen, no seriously I miss that crap.
-Hibachi fried rice
-Fire + Ice, I know it's only been a month, but I always crave it
-English language
-Having a job, I MISS STONEHILL ADMISSIONS SO MUCH (aside from the fact I have ZERO incoming moolah coming my way)
-Stonehill in general, obviously.
-Being able to run anytime I want/need it, still yet to find a good running route, it's a major problem.
-Panera.... JK never want to eat Panera ever again after this summer, enjoy it Stonehill you can have that one.
-One dollar bills. screw you euro coins.
-Casually running into people and not having to deal with a 6 hour time difference to communicate with them
-The O-Team.
-Molly McCabe and Casey Papuga shenanigans
-12 packs of soda
-Being able to drive
-my iPhone (yeah call me a consumerist until you get an iPhone and see what I mean)
-and above all else, FRESH AIR. If I did from second hand smoke you all can thank Italy for it.

ABROAD SONG OF THE WEEK

Pump up song, beats that say hey wake up you're in europe.

Calvin Harris - Feel So Close

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGghkjpNCQ8&ob=av3e

I really don't get the video concept, but whatevs, beat the beat.

FALL BREAK PLANS

Finally booked my flights to London and Ireland! I'm going to be in major credit card debt after this whole abroad experience is over, but I've already accepted that I'll be broke for forever because who knows if I'll ever get to travel around Europe again. Anyways, can't wait to visit friends in London/Galway/Cork, head to my homeland, and go to countries where English is spoken (I'll take the accents and the strange slang anyday).

Places I've been to so far:
- Florence (duh)
- Pisa
- Lucca
- Paris (hands down favorite place I've ever been in my whole life)

Places I will be heading to:
- Cinque Terre (Italian beaches yessss)
- Venice
- Perugia (whattup Melaugh, Cait, B, and Frankie)
- Rome (whattup Sean)
- Chianti (wine tasting?)
- London
- Galway
- Dublin
- Cork (maybe I should track down my relatives from Cork County)
- Pompeii (tentatively trying to)

Hopefully can afford others!

PREPPING FOR THE AMAZING RACE

So traveling is never fun. Whenever someone asks the age old question: "If you had a superpower WHAT WOULD IT BE?" I always answer to be able to control time & space. To be able to teleport would be a super convenient power to have. Oh I'm bored let me just go over to Australia real quick, I'm hungry let me just pop over in Paris for baguette, oh I'm stranded in Pisa because of a train workers strike? No worries I gotchu, imma teleport us right back to Firenze. Life would be grand, and besides what is exciting about wanting to fly (I really cannot stand when people say thats the super power they'd choose, everyone says it but let's be real what is exciting about flying.... so you say you want to be a bird?)

So my 12 hour travel experience from France to Italy was eventful to say the least. Sparknote version: metro into Paris from Vanves, wait around 2 hours for bus, get painfully full of delicious croissants/pain au chocolats, take hour and a half bus from Paris to our airport in Tille, hour and a halfish flight to Pisa, take train from Pisa aeroporto to Pisa Centrale, oh our train back to Firenze SMN is delayed a half hour....to an hour.... to 16 hours... that's cool Italy start a strike at ten at night on a Saturday that's helpful nbd, frantically go into survivor mode trying to figure out how to get back to Florence, meet up with 3 BU chicks who are also stranded trying to get back, my program advisor Chiara is our savior calling her trying to find a way back, get on a city bus back to the airport (would have been better if they decided to strike 20 minutes prior), literally BOOK IT amazing race status off the bus to the airport to find another bus back to Florence, bus it back an hour and twenty later and finally get in Florence at 1:30 AM.

We survived, It was Lauren's 21st bday finally, nothing like some good life experience from traveling, Courtney had a complete Izzie Stevens hysterically laughing/crying moment, I busted out some values game questions (light edition) while waiting for our bus back to Florence after a night of hell to calm the tension, and I really hope traveling to London/Ireland next month will be so much less stressful... and we're taking the bus back and forth to the Pisa airport from now on.

Sidenote: What's the point of having a public bathroom if you lock it after ten o'clock? Riddle me that Pisa train station. Homeboy really had to go to the bathroom and even the McDonalds (which was the only thing functioning, thanks for not striking fast food workers so I could have dinner) bathroom was broken... thank you hotel that was unhelpful to us trying to get back to Florence for at least letting me use your bathroom (though the sinks were weird and orange... not okay)

View of Pisa/sunset from the plane

Finally thought we were headed home... casual workers strike says otherwise. 

unexpected twist of the night

Me being a complete hobo eating MickeyDs on the floor of a foreign train station.

WE GOT ON THE BUS TO GET BACK TO FLORENCE!

Ryanair saves the day? If only your website wasn't such a bitch and a half trying to book a flight I'd like you ryanair

It was a long day..

So as we were waiting to get on the bus back we all screamed of joy thinking this was our bus, it was however not but the driver THOROUGHLY enjoyed the enthusiasm we sent his way and when he drove around the airport he beeped at us every time he drove by, we made his night.

Moral of the story: The wind blows for anyone who has been stranded in a foreign country!

ITALIAN SIDENOTE

So my italian class ended with my professor telling my class to shut up and sing. We were learning about listening and he required us to sing for class participation. It was scary hilarious. Daniele is hilarious. One class he left us with a "love you guysssss" and now I have a ridiculous 60's Italian song about a creepy love obsessed guy stuck in my head, but it's alright it strangely put me in a good mood. Perfect way to start my 4 day weekend (which I have ever week whattup).