FRIDAY

Today, we finally went to VENICE! My favorite city because it was built over water. What a good idea. How cool is that!!!!! A city on stilts! We went by train and walked around for what seemed like FOREVER and then I found something that I recognized! PONTO ACCADEMIA! I wanted to try and retrace the way from Ponto Accademia to the hotel that we stayed in last year and it workeed! I was able to do it!

After that we grabbed lunch at this little pub whole in the wall place. Then we walked to Piazza San Marco where I bought a few things some certain people... hahaha

Then we shopped around Venice and I grabbed a CREPE!!! NUTELLA AND BANANA= ultimate deliciousness.

Then we took the train back and had aperitivo with Martina's sister, Valentina. Then dinner alla Loretta!! Martina's mom really is amazing!!!

Thursday

Today Alberto and I took the train to Verona, the city of Romeo and Gulietta, love, gag gag, puke.....

Anyway, haha, IT IS A GORGEOUS CITY! AH! I will post pictures when I get home but the buildings and the infrastructure is just amazing.

Alberto and I saw the usual sites, Gulietta's balcony/home, the wall where you leave notes for her, her tomb, etc etc.

We ate lunch at this little whole in the wall place too. It looked like a door to no where....somewhat like the red door in portsmouth, and the food was really good. I had a pasta and bean soup that was to die for.

After Guliettaì's tomb, we realized that we were going to miss our train, so we had to speed walk for like 20 minutes. Let me tell you, for a 46 year old guy, Alberto is in pretty good shape hahahaha. We made the train and went home for dinner.

Loretta planned a but dinner for this night. She cooked literally 20 different seafood dishes and Alberto (martina's cousin not the one i was with all day) and his father, and teresa and alberto came over to eat!

Wednesday

Alberto was supposed to have a meeting to day but he changed so that we could go to.....wait for it.....FIRENZE!!!!!! YAY! We took the eurostar (a super fast train) and went to florence for the day!

While we were eating breakfast, Alberto was practicing his english, and the next thing I know this italian guy is speaking english to me! Apparently he spent a year in texas and wanted to talk, but he was weird so I just nodded and went back to my brioche.

When we arrived in Florence, the first thing that we did was climb to the top of the Duomo! I did this last year, but it was so fun that I wanted to do it again! From the cupola, you can see the entire city and it's just gorgeous.

After that we walked through palazzo vecchio to the leather market. Now picture an enormous open market...just with leather good....HEAVEN. The smell alone is enough to make you want to cuddle up with a purse and take a nap!I may or may not have bought a new wallet and bag....maybe.....
After that we walked around, ate a gelato and saw the typical sites in Florence.

GREAT DAY! We had McDonalds for dinner too. Now, those of you who know me well know I detest McDonalds....bt this was italian McDonalds and I had a salad with proscutto and parmagiano on it... I LOVE ITALY

Tuesday

Today Alberto Teresa and I went to PADOVA! This morning I hung out with alberto's niece and be did a little shopping. Then we went back to Albberto's house for some lunch. I'm not talking a sandwhich here either...I'm talking risotto alla saffron and rabbit and mashed potatoes. I think that it's funny that I went from almost being vegetarian (vegan) to eating rabbit in a matter of a week...hahaha.

After that, we dropped Alberto's niece off at school and drove to Padova with Teresa to meet Martina (she works there). We walked around and did some shopping (I bought two pair of boots! YAY!) and saw la chiesa del santo antonio.

Then we went for pizza after, and I have to say, it was the best pizza ever. Better than the pizza from il teatro in Ascoli Piceno....that's saying something.

All in all, a good, delicious day.

Monday

I should have known better than to do what I did this morning, but it happened anyway. I set my alarm because Alberto was taking me around San Donà and Jesolo today and he was coming at 9:30am. Well, I was an idiot and I set my american phone's alarm for 8:30am. Apparently, I forgot that I WAS IN ITALY AND THERE IS A 5 HOUR TIME DIFFERENCE! So, I never woke up. At 9:20 I heard a little voice from outside my door. It was Martina's mother telling me that Alberto was on his way....and I was still in bed!

I have never showered so fast in my life...and we're talking showering in a tub....with no shower curtin and a hand held shower thingy. Not easy.

So I was ready to go in 15 minutes and Alberto and I met up with his niece and went for breakfast. Then, we went for a giro around San Donà. Yes, there was shopping involved. YAY
For lunch, we went to Alberto's house. His mother had prepared 'il pasticcio di carne' a.k.a lasagna, meat and potatoes and mushrooms. His sister made a delicious dessert. We all sat around and ate and talked for about an hour. The funny thing was, I could not understand a single word his father said because he only spoke in dialect. I would just laugh when he said something, and he loved me for it!!

After lunch, Alberto's niece went to school and he, his sister and I went to see the sea in Jesolo. It was a gorgeous sunny day where Alberto lives, and 15 minutes down the road, it was so foggy we couldnt even see the sea from the beach. It was crazy!I took a picture of it, but I left my camera cord at home, so you people will have to wait until next monday to see pictures. SORRY!!! haha

After Jesolo, we went to pick Alberto's other niece up from school. She is only 9 years old, and this morning, she told her mother that she had a stomach ache because she didnt want to go to school. She wanted to stay home so that she could see me!!! So, imagine her surprise when she saw me waiting for her after school!!! IT WAS SOOO CUTE!!!!!! She was testing out her english on me!! 'My name is.....Ludovica!' hahaha.

After the school, Alberto and I left his sister and niece and went to the italian version of the kittery outlets. Italian version meaning fendi, armani, burberry, ferragamo...you name it, if it was expensive, it was there. I bought one thing. A belt. It was only €20 and it was REAL leather....= STEAL!!!!!

I was happy to find this belt because I had borrowed a similar one from Martina that morning. I told everyone that I had gone shopping....in Martina's closet!

Alberto dropped me off at Martina's house after out outlet experience, only to return 2 hours later to take us all out for dinner. Teresa was there too! We all went out for Piadine and OLIVE ASCOLANI!!!! YES!!! HOW I MISSED THEM!!!!!!!!!!

When we got back, I stayed downstairs for a little while and had some tea with Martina's mother.

Now I am going to bed because I am exhausted and it has been a fun/food filled day! Im going to gain 5 pounds this week....oh well... its worth IT!!

Sunday Afternoon

Sunday afternoon Albert, Teresa, Martina and I went to Portobuffolè. It is a little town close to San Donà where Martina lives. There was an antique fair going on and we walked around for about an hour and half, just looking at all of the old field tools and china, etc. We also went to a museum that had a special bike exhibit...random, but really cool! We all bought 'la focaccia' and I am hoping that mine will make it home in one piece....I can't make any promises though.

After out trip to Portobuffolè, we went out for a gelato. At this point, I had already eaten SO MUCH food for lunch (carbonara, pollo e anchè il pane e pomodorini) that I opted for a fruit cup with whipped cream on top. DELICIOUS. Alberto ordered this gelato creation...it was crazy. It was complete with chocolate art! haha

Martina and I returned to her house and rested up for a little bit. Then we went out for spritz. Spritzes are dangerous drinks. They taste great and they are very alcoholic.....=pericoloso.

I drank prosecco e gingerino instead. It is just as good, and basically non-alcoholic....exactly what I need haha.

After that, we went out with Martina's friends for pizza. I forgot how good italian pizza is....its crazy good. During dinner, all of her friends were testing out their engligh on me. During the process, I was able to teach them a new word...'dork'..hahahah. It was so funny! After that, they kept calling each other dorks all night!!

Martina and I returned to her house early that night (early in italy is like 11:30haha) because she was working monay morning. We had to have her friend lead us back to her house because there was so much FOG! We couldn't see 3 feet in front of us!!! They call it 'humidity' but it was closer to a cloudy wall!haha

Sunday Morning

This morning Martina woke me up by saying 'ciao lauren, YOU ARE IN ITALY! DO NOT BE SCARED!'hahahha. I actually forgot where I was because her bed is sooo ridiculously comfy.

We both got ready and went out for a traditional italian breakfast, cafe and pastry! Martina and I rode bikes from her house to the 'centro' and went to a cafe! It wasn't until I was inside the cafe that I realized I was actually in Italy!!! The 'cento' reminded me so much of Ascoli Piceno! I think it is because when I lived in Ascoli, we lived right in the 'centro' so being in the 'centro' of San Dona (where Martina lives) was a really good memory trigger. After la colazione, we went for a walking\shopping tour. Don't worry Daddy, the stores were closed....:(

More to come later!

Sono Tornata!!! Friday and Saturday

That's right people!! I'm back in ITALY!!! I am here visiting my friend Martina! I flew over Friday night and for the most part my flight was uneventful...which was a good thing. I grabbed some food at the airport (NASTY) and made my way onto the plane. After eight and a half hours, two movies, multiple john mayer songs and countless knee bumps from people passing in the lane next to me, I arrived in Munich. Not much to say about Germany...atleast what I saw of it. It was snowy and people were talking really fast in a language that I didn't understand. The only words I know in German are numbers and 'kinder'...thanks to the kinder eggs I used to buy in Ascoli.
As I walked from the plane to the airport, I could not help but relate Munich to a James Bond movie. I know it sounds bad, but there were german people running around everywhere in uniform! James Bond and Indiana Jones are my only experiences with this sort of thing(but not I'm thinking that Indiana Jones was Russia.....).
The flight from Munich was smooth. I sat down in my seat and was amazed at the amount of leg room that I had. I could stretch out and still not hit the seat in front of me. Just as I was reveling in my new-found space, I realized why my seat was so roomy. I was sitting next to the emergency exit....great....

Luckily, the plane landed without an issue. I ran out of that thing SO FAST! I WAS IN ITALY!!!

OH GOTTA RUN! I'll finish later! ENRICO IS HERE!!!

Ok this is me finishing...by the way, Enrico is ridiculously funny....and jacked.

I had to wait a little while for my 'valigio', but the pink bubble a.k.a Martina's suit case that I was bringing back to her came out pretty quickly along with my suitcase. There are sliding glass doors that seperate the baggage claim area from the pick-up area. As I was walking out, the people in front of me were making the doors open and close. Through the opening and closing doors, I could see Martina, Teresa and Alberto all screaming and frantically waving at me! HA! That was a much better welcome than Mike Burke gave me when I went come last time.

I went back to Martina's house and her mother fed me to the point where I thought I was going to burst. Martina and Andrea both warned me of this, but it happened anyway...oh well. I took a nap after lunch and then went out to Martina's sister's birthday party Saturay night.

A little catch-up

Wow. It has been so long since I even thought about publishing ANYTHING on this blog. I need to catch you all up on my flight back home...etc.

So, April 29th, was the last day in Ascoli for Britney, Britney and myself. We were traveling home together and had to say our goodbyes to our little city. We took our last italian classes and had lunch with our group for the last time. When all of us finally made it down to the bistro under our school, we were met with a surprise!
Piero, the man who owns the bistro, had a whole goodbye lunch set up for us!There were literally 10 different dishes that just kept getting magically refilled.
After lunch we all said our final goodbyes and it was so sad. Haha. Everyone was just running around hugging. I had to run after that because I needed to get all my final things packed up and ready for the 2:30 bus to Rome. Right before I got on the bus to leave my roommate Christine and Molly and Mollie showed up to make their FINAL FINAL goodbyes. I got yelled at by the bus driver because I was taking too long. :)

Briteny, Britney and I took the three hour bus into Rome since our flight was leaving the next day around 10:30. Giorgio met up with us at the bus station and took us out for dinner with his wife Danilla and his daughter Giorgia. We went back to the really good pizza place that he brought me to with my parents when they were in Rome.

I said my goodbyes to Giorgia and Danilla after that and Giorgio left us off at the hotel. The next morning he dropped us off and the airport and true to Britney Weaver's style, she went to give him the double kiss and went to the wrong side first....AGAIN. She always ends up smooching people on the lips. Oh b-weaves...

Our plane was delayed, but we eventually made it on after chit chatting with one of those elderly tour groups. The flight back went smoothly and before I knew it, we were beginning our descent into Boston. When the pilot told us this over the PA, I started crying.....hahaha. I dont know why, I just wanted to stay on the plane and go back to Rome.

We landed and then went to look for our luggage, and just when we thought the fun was over for our trip, there was a drug bust in the luggage claim area! YES! hahaha. When we walked through the door from baggage claim to our families (and by families, in my case i mean Mike Burke), and said our goodbyes, it really hit me. I was home. No more pizzas from il teatro, no more trips to San Benedetto or Roma. No more little italian children to teach English. I was done with all of the art and narrow allies with cobblestones. No more tabaccherias and old italian men asking me if i want to go get a cafe.

I was back in the USA, but nothing would be "just like it was" before. I would see everything in a different way now. A trip like the one I took really changes a person.

TIME CRUNCH!

Things are coming to an end in Ascoli! I can't believe it is ending so soon. On one hand, I feel like this was a sufficient time to be living in Ascoli Piceno, but on the other hand, I feel like I could stay for another two months.

I had my Italian teaching practicum this morning where I teach the Italian children English. At the end of class, they all gave me little cards that they wrote out and colored for me. Each one wrote a note inside and they were all sooo cute! It made me want to stay with those kids for ever! Haha. Of course, that wore off when I remembered that I would be seeing my niece and nephew when I go home!

I have a big paper due tomorrow, and right now I should be working on it but I am actually blogging...coincidence? I think not....

I also have an Italian final on Wednesday, but I'm not too worried about that. It should be pretty easy seeing as it is ELEMENTARY Italian...:)

So, since I should be writing my paper, and not writing on my blog, I am going to stop writing this post now. Leave you people with a cliff hanger...maybe? haha

CIAO!

Registering for Classes

So I get to register for my classes today at 5:30pm.....American time...which means that I have to be up and at some sort of internet point tonight at 11:30....great haha. But it's ok. My friend's apartment has internet so we'll just have a movie night and then I'll register and go home.
So about registering....anyone that want to hang out with me...do it over the summer because I will literally have NO LIFE next semester. My OT classes are literally going to kill me. There are sooo many hours of class time and LABS! Ok, that's all of the complaining I am going to do...for now.
Ehhh the days in Ascoli are winding down...My program ends on April 30th :( It's bittersweet I guess. Atleast there are travel opportunities afterward. I'm going to miss friends that I made here, but I am also going to be ready to come home when that day comes :)

Monday and Tuesday 4/20 and 4/21

My parents and brothers and Andrea left Monday morning. I had to teach English at the Italian school from 8-10 and so I met them at the Bistro under my school at 10:15 to get a coffee and say bye before my class at 10:40. I also sent them along with one of my suit cases :)

The rest of the day was back to the same old same old. It was one of the girl's 21st birthday Monday night so we took her out for some Chinese food in Italy... haha go figure.

Tuesday I woke up with a massive stomach ache (the chinese no doubt) but I got over it during the day. I finished the third book of Twilight too,but I am waiting to start the fourth one until my 10 hour plane trip home is closer:)

Saturday with the Family

The next day it rained ALL DAY! We walked around and I showed my parents around Ascoli a little more. We went into some of the churches and the crypt of one of them. By lunch time we were all soaked and decided to call the touring a day. We went for lunch at Café Lorenz and ate yummy pasta. ML wanted to shop a little bit so we did that in the afternoon.
For dinner we went to Vagabondo with some of my friends. We were the only customers that night and the man that owned the place was the only one working. Insteada of making a bunch of different dishes for us, we ate family style. One dish for each course for everyone. SO Fun!

After dinner we were all tired AGAIN haha so we called it a night.

End of Rome, Beginning of Ascoli

The next day, we were leaving for Ascoli Piceno but we had a few things to see first. We was the Pantheon, Piazza Minerva, the lion thing, a monastery with a secret. The secret was a gate leading into a garden. Through the key hole in the gate you could see down a long path of trees in this garden that eventually led to a gorgeous view of the dome on the Vatican. Finally we ended with the Colosseum, but that was not before we accidentally walked in on a wedding in a little chapel near the monastery.
Saying bye to Giorgio was so hard. He drove us to the highway and then he was like…Ok! I’ll see you again I hope! He got out, we said our goodbyes and he grabbed a bus back home. When we got back into the car we noticed that he wrote us a note saying goodbye! SO CUTE AND NICE!
The drive to Ascoli Piceno was much quicker when my dad drove versus the bus. Just over two hours and fifteen minutes I would say. Oh daddy….My family checked into their hotel and then we walked around for a little bit. Then they went for a rest before dinner. That night we ate dinner at Al Teatro and had some good pizza with my friends.

Sistine Chapel and Vatican

The next morning we woke up early and met Giorgio at 8:30. We had a tour of the Vatican scheduled with a retired CAPTAIN of the Swiss Guard, Martino. So cool. We walked us through the Vatican and told us SO many things about it! He knew so much, and you could tell he knew more and was just giving us the “abridged” version. After the Vatican came the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. Martino knew everything about everything.
Just as we were about to leave the Sistine Chapel Giorgio came running over to us and motioned for us to follow him. He brought us into this little side room in the Chapel that was off limits. When we were in and the door was shut he explained where we were. We were in the Room of Tears in the Sistine Chapel. Martino, who was in the Swiss Guard for 37 years had only been in there twice! This room holds all the ancient treasures and old vestments of past Popes from the 1200’s-1300’s till the present. It is also the room where the newly elected Pope goes to “collect himself” between being elected and first speaking to the people. SOOO COOL!!!! Once in a lifetime.
After the long day, my family was tired because they were still dealing with a time change. They rested up but I still had energy. Giorgio, Andrea and I walked around Rome. We happened to pass the Trevi Fountain and then we walked around looking for a leather jacket. Eventually we had to head back and get everyone for dinner. We met Danilla and Giorgia again and had an amazing time with them. They really were so much fun to be around!



Things I saw in Rome:
1. Dig
2. Old circus (where they used to race chariots)
3. Really cool fountains
4. Massive statues
5. Road with old chariot marks in the rocks paving it
6. An old water fountain (that I somehow shot water into my face and hair with).
7. Spanish Steps
8. Trevi Fountain
9. Pantheon
10. Colosseum
11. Piazza Minerva
12. Vatican
13. Sistine Chapel
14. Vatican Museum
15. Lion face thing you put your hand in and hope it doesn’t get bit off while you make a wish

Wednesday and Thursday! SURPRISE!

So I returned from Ischia on Monday, and Wednesday afternoon I took the 4:30 bus BACK to Rome! I was meeting my family the next day in the Airport, but they didn’t know that because it was a surprise! So I got to Rome at 7:30 and met Giorgio , a friend of the family who lives in Rome. Did I mention that neither he nor his wife speak ANY English haha….He was picking up my parents, two younger brothers and Andrea (family friend…basically family) at Fiumicino (one of the airports in Rome) in the morning. This whole scheme was actually Andrea’s idea and everything was all set-up for me. All I had to do was show up in Rome Wednesday night.
Giorgio and his daughter Giorgia took me to grab a big rental car for the fam when they got here. When I saw it I instantly dubbed it “Nostro Pullman!” (our bus! Haha). It was actually a 9 person van hahaha! Giorgio got a kick out of that one.
Then we headed back to their house where Giorgio’s wife Danilla was preparing dinner. She made an amazingly delicious meal. It was simple but out of this world. Pasta and chicken but SO GOOD!
After dinner…so at like 11pm haha….Giorgio, Danilla and Giorgia drove me to my hotel and got me settled for the night. The next morning Giorgio picked me up at 6:30am so we could get to the airport for 7:30am. Naturally, my parent’s plane was late, but it gave me more time to figure out a surprise strategy with Giorgio.
When they finally walked through the arrivals door I ran behind a column and popped up in front of them….SURPRISE! They had no idea. It was great.
We went to the hotel and the fam took a nap while I read. Did I mention that I started reading Twilight? BAD CHOICE! MY LIFE REVOLVES AROUND THESE BOOKS! Haha kinda sad actually…anyway...After their nap Giorgio met us and we went out and saw a few things around Rome. There are some pictures that I took of a site of a dig that is actually going on in the city right now. Giorgio was basically our master-mind tour guide all weekend that had every connection possible in Rome. It was great!
Then we went to a pizza place where we met-up with Danilla and Giorgia. After we all successfully ate enough for two weeks we rolled ourselves back into nostro Pullman to go back to the hotel and crash for the night.

Monday- Return to Ascoli from Ischia

The next morning we caught the ferry at 7:45am. We almost got lost and missed the ferry like a bazillion times…as usual when I travel. So typical… haha only this time there was no taxi to rely on. From the ferry we thought the train station was close, so we opted to walk rather than pay for a taxi…bad choice….typical. We walked for 45-50 mins through the port of Naples…AGAIN! Tempting fate two times on our one trip…not very smart. Eventually we made it to our train, boarded and just found seats together before the train left. It was PACKED! Little did we know it could and would get worse.
By the time we made two more stops (picking up more people) there was a HUGE group of teenagers standing INSIDE of our compartment and out in the hallway. FIRE HAZARD! Hahaha. They were EVERYWHERE though. My friend was sitting in a fold out seat in the hallway and they literally smothered her. She had butts in her face no matter where she turned. She couldn’t breath. I had to blindly stick my arm out into the teenage abyss and attempt to reel her in. Eventually I got a hold of her and pulled her into the compartment. There wasn’t much more room in there either but at least she could breath!
We finally made it to Rome and killed a few hours before boarding the bus back to Ascoli. Once the three hour ride was behind us, we all trudged the 20 minutes back to our apartments and crashed. We were all physically and emotionally exhausted from the long day of travel. 7am till 6pm. SO WORTH IT! 

Sunday in Ischia

We decided to dedicate Sunday to sun-bathing and a hike to the castle on Ischia. We woke up and grabbed some breakfast at the hotel and threw our bathing suits on…TIME TO TAN…only it was a little chilly. So we wrapped up in towels and waited it out…we were determined to TAN! Hahaha
After lunch, we hiked to Castello Aragonese d’Ischia. It was soo pretty in the distance we just had to see it up close. We were preparing for like an hour and a half, two hours there, and hour back down. When we got to the base of the castle, we were pleasantly surprised….by an elevator. It was 1 minute to the top haha.
The castle was really cool. Lots of old buildings and you could tell that this was a castle town and not just a plain castle. There were churches and homes and an abbey….you name it. Even a SUN temple…can you say ZELDA!? All I could think of was Mike trying to beat that stupid temple in Zelda. Once again…look at the pictures. If you do you get to see the NASTY nun thing we found…They look like seats. Just as I was about to sit on one, my friend started to read the description of what they were. They were in fact seats…but they weren’t for living people. They were where the dead nun corpses would rot away…delicious huh?
It started to rain so we went back and got ready for dinner. We walked to the downtown area for food after waiting to no avail for the rain to let up… no chance on that one. Good food and bed…as usual. Early ferry in the AM.

Saturday in Capri!

we woke up early to take a ferry to Capri for the day. So much fun!!
On the ferry a man approached us and asked us if we wanted to see the Grotta Azzurra. I had no idea what it was but my friend did so we decided to go. Apparently, it is the MAIN tourist attraction in Capri….haha so much for knowing where I am. We bought tickets for the boat ride to the Grotta Azzurra, and when we got off the ferry in Capri we went straight there.
When you get to the area of the Grotta Azzurra, you can’t go in it with a normal boat because the opening is too small. It was literally two feet high when I was there because it was high tide. Since the opening is so small, people are transferred from the bigger boats, that take them out to the Grotta, to super small row boats that take you into the Grotta Azzurra. I got into a small boat with my friend and a family of three from Argentina. Haha…typical. I would find the only Spanish people in Capri.
Anyway, we were getting closer and closer to the opening of the cave, but it wasn’t until we were just about to enter it that I realized just HOW low the opening actually is!! I shimmied down (on top of the Argentinean family) and laid as flat as I could in the bottom of the boat. It’s a good thing! Because my head would have gotten chopped off if I didn’t move! WE WERE SO FRIGGING CLOSE TO THE ROCKS! Let me repeat….we were moving toward the opening, next thing I know I was franticly trying to keep from being decapitated while at the same time trying to pretend that the guy rowing the boat wasn’t laying completely on top of me so he could fit through as well. Good Times in Capri…
Needless to say, the Grotta Azzurra was SO PRETTY! I literally can not describe it with words…it was soo BLUE. On the boat there, we met two women who were traveling together around Italy. The originally came over to visit one of their daughters and were just going from place to place after that. When they found out we were studying in Italy as well, we struck up conversation that lasted the whole boat ride.
When we made it back to Capri (the land part of it anyway) we asked the women if they knew anywhere that was good for lunch. They said that they were going to hike up to the town center (at the top of this massive mountain) and see what was up there. We decided we would go along. We wanted to go up to the center anyway.
After what seemed like an endless climb to the top (it took forever!) we all of a sudden passed through a massive archway and were in the middle of this quaint but amazingly stunning town center of Capri. Once we were up there we decided to go to a famous pizza place for lunch. We walked in and soon realized that they served more than pizza….and stuff that was a lot more expensive than pizza. My friend and I figured…”Hey, how often are we at the top of a mountain in the historical town center of Capri in a nice restaurant? Let’s go all out”. We literally just decided this when the woman whose daughter the two women went to visit said that we could pick whatever we wanted…and it was on her. SO NICE! So we got some delicious fish and shrimp pasta!
After lunch we had to catch the ferry to Ischia so we had to say bye to our new found friends. They were so NICE! We really enjoyed lunch with them.
After the ferry ride back, we took a nap and then went downtown for some dinner. More fish….go figure! How could I not take advantage of the fishy opportunity presented before me?! After dinner we were exhausted to we decided to call it an early night again…but not before getting another gelato

Friday! Traveling to Ischia

Friday morning we began our journey to Ischia. We grabbed the 6am bus from Ascoli Piceno to Rome. We were going to try and catch the 10:24 train to Naples, but we got into Rome a little later than planned and the train was completely booked.
My Italian professor told me that on Christmas, all of the Italians stay at home with their families. On Easter, they all travel….I could definitely see that she was right. Termini (the train station) was packed.
We ended up having to take a later train, and we had a few hours to kill, so we headed to the most American thing that we could find in the train station….Mc Donalds. When we got on our train, it was literally IMPOSSIBLE to find seats near each other. We found a compartment that had one other person in it and just settled….It wasn’t until we were seated that we realized we were sharing a compartment with a bit of a “fishy” character….haha…yeah…
We made it to Naples alive, but that was only half of the journey. From the train station, we had to take a bus (where we all got molested one way or another, emotionally or physically) and then got off at the port to take the ferry to Ischia. We got off at the wrong port, so we had to trek through the port district of Naples (probably the most unsafe place in Italy…) to the other port. We grabbed the ferry and took in the two hour ferry ride to Ischia. SO GORGEOUS!
When we docked, we grabbed a taxi and finally made it to the hotel…after 11 hours of traveling….
That night, we went out to dinner and I had some delicious muscles (Cozze) and a gelato! YUM!

Update

I just put up some pictures from Ascoli and my most recent trip to Ischia and Capri! The accompanying blog is soon to come!!

Ischia!!

So it is official!! I am going to Ischia for Easter Weekend! Yay! We have Monday off from school because it is a national holiday for Easter in Italy, so we are taking advantage of the four day weekend and taking a trip to Ischia!
Originally, we were thinking of going to Capri, but Ischia is a little less well known, therefore it is a little less expensive.
We booked our hotel, and it has it's OWN PRIVATE BEACH! I'm so excited...ahh! I just hope that I don't come down with this sicky thing because we have a three hour bus ride to Rome, a two hour train ride to Naples, and then an hour and a half ferry ride to Ischia. That's a long time to feel nauseous. Cross your fingers for me!

Monday

Yesterday after my Italian class, I left school ASAP because I just wanted to be back in my apartment, sitting in my window and reading. I sat there for THREE hours, just reading and people watching. It was such a nice break from all the stuff going on. The other five girls that I live with were still in school so I had the whole apartment to myself!
Needless to say, I got sunburned....yay!

After my window-time, I went to the fountain for internet and then I hit up Tonic.

Bed early again...I am trying to stay healthy since there is a pukey thing going around with us....three girls down now...IM SCARED! haha...

The end of Sunday....and EARTHQUAKE!

So mass was a little bit longer on Sunday because it was Palm Sunday and they had to read the Passion of Christ. So...it finished in about an hour vs 45 mins haha. After mass we went back to my apartment and just hung out and made some dinner. I went to bed early because I was so exhausted on Sunday.
Then, all of a sudden, around 3:30 in the morning, I woke up to shaking. I thought that my roommate Christine was shaking my bed so I was like "CHRISTINE! STOP SHAKING MY BED!! ITS GOING TO BREAK!"....then I realized it was an EARTHQUAKE! The shaking went on for atleast a good 60-90 seconds. After it had passed, I was a little scared, but I didn't think too much of it.
Literally three days before the quake hit, my italian teacher told my class that "tremors" were common and not to really worry about them. I thought that this was just a "tremor"...oops. So after it passed, I told my roommate what my teacher said and then we both just went back to sleep. We felt a few smaller tremors after the big one, but I really honestly thought that it was normal since Ascoli Piceno is close to a fault line.
It wasn't until the next day that I found out the actual damage that happened in L'Aquila. I cannot even imagine what it would have been like to experience the earthquake there. All I could think about was being one of those students who were trapped in their dorm rubble. The amount of people that have lost their lives is just horrific.
So yes, I felt the earthquake the other night. No, I wasn't scared when it was happening because I thought that it was just the usual for Ascoli. Yes, I am TERRIFIED now because I felt another smaller tremor last night that woke me up...around 1am. Maybe I'm just oversensitive to them now...I don't know.

Catch-up

Since spring break nothing too exciting has happened. The week following my Sunday return to Ascoli, I pretty much slept in EVERY day in attempts to catch-up on sleep. On that Thursday, I was supposed to go to the Italian school to teach English (I go once a week), but when I woke up my eye was all infected and gross again.
Friday, we decided that it would be nice to go out to Murphy’s because we hadn’t been there since before break. So basically, I laid around all day trying to get better, and then went three steps down the street for two hours haha.
Saturday…much of the same. We attempted a hike, but that failed miserably because for some reason, all of Ascoli decided that they would do work on their trails and walkways. So I went to Tonic instead and sat in a Jacuzzi for an hour…probably not the best thing for the homeostatic regulation of my body, but what are you going to do…
Sunday, I laid around outside all day, and then headed to church at 6:45pm. I was expecting a regular mass…hymns, singing, the whole lot. Let’s just say, it was lacking a few…ok all musical overtones of a mass. I felt like I was at mass at that church in Seabrook, NH where you go during the summer between leaving the beach and going out to dinner. The mass started at 6:45pm and I was out, in Piazza del Popolo, drinking an apertivo, before 7:30pm.
We met some friends around 8pm and went out to dinner at a place called Pepperoncino. Apparently, everything there is spicy. After eating, we three of us were waiting outside while our fourth was paying the bill. We were standing outside of the restaurant talking when, all of a sudden, a guy approaches us and starts speaking to us in English. He had a British accent, so I figured he was from England. Then he said, “Are you in the University of New Hampshire program?” When we said yes he asked if we were from New Hampshire. I said I was from Rye Beach and he said… “NO WAY! I’m from PORTSMOUTH!” So basically what happened was….I ran into a guy that lives 15 minutes away from me on Congress St. in Portsmouth, NH, IN ASCOLI PICENO!!! Thousands of miles from my home…So CRAZY! So yeah, that was Sunday.

This past week was much of the same thing. Tuesday was one of the girl’s 21 birthday, so I made her some chili (hahaha ohh kelli), we all bought her a nice cake, and eventually got dressed up and took her out. The rest of the week was pretty relaxed. Not much going on. No big assignments until another two weeks.

Yesterday, Saturday April 4, 2009, we took a day trip to Urbino. We left Ascoli at 7:30am. The trip to Urbino took three hours. By the time we got there…we were all exhausted and ready to call it a day haha. In Urbino there was a Rafael exhibition. We went to the “Galleria Nationale delle Marche” and walked through the Rafael exhibit and the Palazzo Ducale di Urbino. Very cool stuff. Just to get into the ancient city of Urbino, we had to climb up this massive spiral walkway. It looked just like the walkway you have to go up in (EWW a Burberry man purse just passed by under my window) the Gorgon Castle in Zelda. Yep, I know…I’m a loser, but at least my brothers and my cousins will know what I’m talking about. So after the spiral walkway, there were stairs, and then this twisty windy upward brick trail….soo sool. I’m putting pictures up so look at them!
After we got back yesterday we were all so tired. We took naps and then got dinner out. After dinner we loaded up with nutella and cookies and watched some quality Desperate Houswives. During the episode, the back legs started creaking….then all of a sudden, THEY BROKE RIGHT OFF! MY WHOLE BED COLLAPSED! WHAT THE HECK! So last night I had to sleep on the couch.
And just to put the final touches on things, when I woke up this morning, that weird eye guck thing was back. It’s not pink eye…I don’t know what it is but its weird….Oh life.
For breakfast we hit up Murphy’s because they were having a Sunday brunch. There was also a parade through the streets of Ascoli for Palm Sunday. What a day. I have to run now though, because I am trying to make it to 6:45 pm mass again. We’ll see how quick this mass is….

Sunday in Dublin

We woke up on time Sunday, and every thing was going according to plan. We grabbed our taxi at 5:30 and he took us to the bus station. He offered to drive us to the Airport (which was an hour away) but we said no because we wanted to charge us £50. We went to get on the bus, and I didn’t have enough cash for a ticket so we went to an ATM. As I was taking my money out of the ATM the bus left. We figured…no big deal; we’ll catch the next one. Only the next one didn’t leave until 6:30 and wouldn’t arrive until 8am. Our flight left at 8:40 but the gate closed at 8:10. That wouldn’t work. So now we had to figure our how we were going to get to the airport in time.
We walked outside of the train station trying to catch a cab to the airport. We figured it couldn’t be that expensive. We talked to a cabbie and he said it would be £120 for a ride to the airport. £120!!!! SO much money. I tried to talk him down to a lower price, but he wouldn’t budge.
Instead of taking a cab to the airport, we took one to the train station in an attempt to catch the 6:20am train. We got to the station at 6:19am. SOO close!! We ran in and tried to buy a ticket but the machines were broken. Then we were approached by someone who worked there with an electronic ticket machine who sold us tickets. We grabbed them from his hand and RAN to the train platform, but we had JUST missed it. Luckily, there was another one leaving at 6:40am.
We took the train to the airport and got there around 7:30. We went in and made it through security without a problem. We were at our gate by 8am. Things would have been perfect….except that Ryan Air was late…AGAIN. So the airline that prides itself on being on-time was late 2 out of the 4 times I used them. Go Ryan Air.
So after all that traveling just to get to the airport, instead of just paying the £50 it would have cost us for the cab driver to take us directly to the airport, we paid £16 for the cab ride, another £18 for the second cab ride, and £20 each for a train ticket. That’s a total of £74….
We landed in Rome and caught the bus to the center of the city with ease (amazing huh?). The we had a few hours to kill before our 2:30pm bus left for Ascoli. So….we ate some pizza….and played some slots haha. I learned not to bother…I DO NOT understand those games in English, never mind Italian!
When we got on the bus, there were four other girls from our program on there too. Christine and I got front row seats on the second floor (yes, they take double decker busses around the cliffs of Italy) and we were soo excited for the ride back. Then, out of no where, some crazy old lady comes up to us and stars yelling at us saying that we took her seat. Apparently, she RESERVED! the seats we were sitting in. Go figure…typical.So we moved to the back of the bus and slept/watched Grey’s Anatomy the whole way back.
Getting back into Ascoli was the best feeling ever. I was so sick of traveling around everywhere. I was so excited for a good night’s sleep! For dinner that night (because the bus dropped us off at 5:30pm) we went to Teatro Pizzeria and had some AMAZING pizza for €4. I think the thing I missed the most about Ascoli was the cheap food!