More Pictures!

So here are just some more random pictures from this semester!

All of these pictures are from our girls weekend trip to Cinque Terre!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=984522818229705&set=vb.100000159894773&type=2&theater

And this is the link for the video of me cliff jumping!

Dr. Kennedy has finally joined us! Group picture at the Villa i Tatti in Florence!

Our little cruise family in Florence

Selfie with our student life coordinator, Genevieve! 

One of our favorite hang out places in Arezzo, Bloom

And this is what happens basically every weekend.  We travel constantly, typically early in the mornings, so there is a lot of sleeping on trains. 

Just an Overview and More Pictures from Fall Break

For the future Italy students, if you are ever debating about what to do for fall break, I highly recommend taking a cruise. It was the perfect combination of relaxation and sampling of cultures.  We didn't have to wait in airports, pay for dinner every night, or worry about any form of transportation. It's also the much safer option. 

You also meet so many people! We found another group of college students who are studying abroad in London, so if we ever want to go to London we now have connections.  We also got to know the couple that ate dinner with us, and they were possibly the sweetest couple ever.  This cruise was a wonderful way to get to know many people from many backgrounds and cultures, but still had a safe environment.  

Not to mention, I'll never forgot walking around the top deck of the ship late at night, being in the middle of the sea and just being able to look up and stare at the stars.  I wouldn't trade those moments of tranquility for anything...

But here are some more pictures from fall break that I either stole from my friends or forgot to include in the other posts!!!

Fall Break (Again): Olympia and Katakolon, Greece

Luckily for us, we had another stop in Greece after Santorini.  The next day we docked in Katakolon.  This time we knew what we planned on doing after we docked.  When we got off the ship, we went to find a bus to take us to Olympia.  Tip for the poor college students like me out there, if you complain enough about being a broke college student, a lot of places will lower the prices for you.  We ended up getting a discount on our bus ride there and on our tickets for the archeological site of Olympia.

Once we reached Olympia, we looked around a few of the shops, stopped in a café, and walked to the actual archeological site of the first Olympic games. By the time we got there, we didn't have too much time so my main plan of action was to try to see and take pictures of everything and figure out exactly what I was looking at afterwards.  This worked pretty decently and I ended up having a basic idea of what everything was anyway.  However, it's easier to guide you through Olympia through pictures rather than trying to explain it, so here you go!

So this is a close up of one of the structures. Notice how part of the materials used to make these ancient structures were sea-shells?

This is the Temple of Zeus. And one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. 

This is the start line inside the stadium.  This is where the competitors lined up (their toe inside the darker line)

The entrance to the stadium.  I don't have any great pictures of the inside of the stadium, but picture a small grass field and that's basically what the inside looked like. 

It was so neat being able to see these ruins.  I mean, this is something you learn about and see pictures of in history books, so being able to stand on the actual grounds was a wonderful feeling.  This was the birthplace of probably one of the most long-lasting traditions in the world: the Olympic games, which were held in 776 BC.  776 BC! Do you even realize how long ago that was? And these ruins are from then and before!

When we returned to the port of Katakolon, we went to a little cafe on the water in order to get coffee and wifi...obviously the two most important things to us college students.  Frozen cappuccinos are amazing, just in case anyone was wondering...Afterwards, I went with Kira in search of a good place to go eat gyros; we had least had to try some authentic Greek food while we were there.  We found a little place off of the main road.  The owner was so sweet and he gave us discounts off of our delicious food for no reason at all.

After eating, we were walking back towards the ship and the owner of a jewelry store stops us and starts talking to us.  He offers some great deals, so we decided to take a look inside since I was looking for a new ring and gifts for my family.  He ends up practically giving me my ring along with a charm of the Grecian third eye.  After talking to this man a little more, he points out some pictures on the wall and begins to pull something out from behind the counter to show us.  Turns out this man was an Olympic soccer player and just so happened to be giving us the torch from the 1996 games for us to hold. Crazy right?!?

Kira holding the torch from the 1996 Olympic Games, in a jewelry store out of all places

Oh, and he also gave us flowers from his garden when we left

This is probably one of the things I enjoyed most about Greece.  In Santorini, Olympia, and Katakolon all the locals were very friendly and held conversations with you, just to get to know you.  They didn't care if you bought anything from them or not.  But they also weren't over-the-top friendly and followed you around like they did in Turkey.  The Greek culture was definitely an enjoyable experience and I hope I will be able to return one day. I still need to visit Athens after all!

Fall Break Part 3: Santorini, Greece

After Turkey, our next destination was Santorini, Greece. This is the place everyone was most excited about and it did not disappoint.

We didn't actually dock in Santorini, but instead got off our big ship and onto a little boat that brought us to shore. For those who do not know, Santorini is an island in Greece that is basically built out of volcanic ash and soil, so when you dock, you somehow have to travel up to get to the city.  There are three ways to do this; walk it, take a cable car, or ride a donkey. We ended up taking the cable car up and then we took a small bus to the city of Oia, which is the picturesque Santorini one thinks of.  

This city was absolutely breathtaking. The water, the blue roofs, the flowers, it looked exactly like the pictures and even more beautiful in person.  Of course, the first thing we did was get coffee at this little place that had a fantastic view of both the water and the city.  Then we spent almost the entire rest of the day just walking around the city and exploring a lot of the shops. So there's really not much to say about what we did in Oia, so here are a ton of pictures!

There's our ship...oh hey Splendor of the Seas 

The view while we were drinking coffee

Beautiful Santorini

SAI sisters take on Santorini! Love and Roses from Greece!

Oh, I forgot! While in Oia, we also found our way into a place to get fish pedicures! So we went and basically placed our feet into a fish tank so the fishys could eat the dead skin off our feet. It wasn't until after I got back to Italy that I found out that we went to the same place the Kardashians went while they were there and that I was sitting where Kim sat! Cool right?!?

So this was taken when we first put our feet in. There is also a video of this roaming around somewhere so I'll post it if I find it

To prove that I was in the same place that Kim was....

So remember how I said there were three ways to get from the town to the water? Well on the way back to the ship we decided to take the donkey. Lena rode a donkey in Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, so we needed the full experience. This was a horrible idea, at least to go down the mountain. One, we were all wearing dresses, so there's a 100 percent chance that people were flashed in this process. Two, it was so scary. It felt like we were putting our lives in the hands of our donkeys. One slip of the donkey and we would either end up painfully falling down the mountain or into the water. There would be points where we would just be looking straight down into the water and praying to God that something didn't happen. Also, our donkeys were all tied up in a line, and I was close to the back. Well, my donkey wanted to be the leader of the line so he kept trying to get in front of the donkey in front of him. We almost hit the walls several times, probably ran into and flashed several tourists, and I wish I could show you the video...it's nice to be able to say I rode a donkey in Greece, but in the moment it was a terrifying experience.

Donkey ridin'! This was also caught when my donkey decided he didn't want to play follow the leader anymore.

BUT GO TO SANTORINI IF YOU EVER GET THE CHANCE!! You will not be disappointed!!!

Fall Break Part 2: Day at Sea and Kusadasi, Turkey

              Continuing on…between Croatia and Turkey, we had a day at sea.  So, there’s really not much to say about that day. I just laid by the pool, swam, took a cha-cha class, and later that night went to a “60’s dance party.” Typically not my thing, but whatever; no one knew me, I was one of the younger people there, and it was fun. Slightly awkward since members of the cruise staff were dressed up in "slutty" costumes, but fun. I’m pretty sure there’s a picture still floating around the ship of me and the “sexy construction worker” that worked at the shore excursions desk. 

60's party with Kira

This was also the first encounter we had of a woman who we enjoy calling “Texas” or “90-proof.”  Guys, I seriously wish I had a picture of this woman to show you. She was an elderly lady who acted like she was 18. The first night I saw her she was wearing a white, sort of see-through corset, and a black mini skirt covered in fringe. And this is was the style of outfits she wore every day.   She was constantly drunk and knew no limits…as in she was grinding and dancing with members of our group, the staff, and whoever else would dance with her. She was insane, always provided entertainment, and did not care about anyone else’s opinion of her.

                The next morning we arrived in Turkey. At first glance, Turkey looked beautiful, but turned out to be one of the sketchiest places I have ever been.  We had absolutely no plan for Turkey and this is somewhere we should have had one, or should’ve spent the money on a shore excursion.  We got off the ship and immediately started to get bombarded with people trying to sell us stuff and guys cat-calling us. We had no idea what we were going to do or how to get around, other than trying to find this hair salon that one of our girls wanted to go to.  Trying to find this salon though was an adventure in itself. We had no idea where we were going and ended up passing this cop that was just casually holding a machine gun. That was my final straw. I didn’t feel safe and all I wanted to do was go back to the ship since no one else wanted to go to the ancient ruins that were nearby.  We finally found this salon and from there decided to split up into twos. I was going to go back to the ship with Juny and Alicia and Kira were going to stay at the salon. 

                While walking back to the ship, we saw a street that looked a little more populated and touristy and decided to check it out. We had finally come across the safer, touristy markets in the city.  Yeah, guys still cat-called and people tried to sell us stuff but it’s not like we were the only people around on these streets.  Juny and I just ignored everyone until we ended up getting Turkish ice cream, which is also an experience in itself.  The people there make a whole show out of it, trying to get you to grab the cone and then taking it away and such. Do you know how at Dairy Queen they turn the blizzards upside down whenever they give it you? It’s like that but more intense. The younger guy working there was so sweet and ended up giving us these free little knitted mitten things because we were “beautiful American girls.” 

I loved how blue the water was, and you can see our ship in the background

Turkish coffee and the sea: the only two things I enjoyed there

                We spent a little bit of time walking around, went to this little island called “Pigeon Island,” which had more cats than birds, and stopped at a café to get the famous Turkish coffee and Turkish delights.  On our way back to the ship, an elderly man stopped us to give us these little pink, dolphin charm things that apparently symbolize long life. 

                We eventually got back to the ship and decided that we were going to go rock climbing since most of the ship was still out in Turkey.  So we went rock climbing, and no, I did not make it to the top. Between my fear of heights, lack of upper body strength, and never have gone rock climbing on a wall before, I didn’t make it to the top.  Also, while we were rock climbing, we heard this Muslim chant being sung around the city of Kusadasi via intercom or something. It was something that was completely different than any culture I ever experienced, so that was pretty cool.  The rest of our day mainly consisted of lying by the pool, eating dinner, and preparing for Greece the next day.

And this is me struggling to get up a rock wall

                Overall, Turkey is not someplace I would ever visit again. I am not a fan of the middle east culture in general, and I just felt really unsafe in Turkey, not to mention that ISIS has been invading the country…But for anyone who is planning on going to Turkey, my advice would be to stay in heavily touristy areas. I hate being a tourist, or obviously looking like one, but it’s really important in Turkey to stay in the tourist areas.  Also, if you are a female, do not, I repeat DO NOT, talk to, smile at, or even make eye contact with the men. If you do, they will continue to talk and follow you and will not give up, so just don’t do it. 

Fall Break Part 1: Boarding and Croatia!

I just returned from fall break! And wifi in the villa has been awful so sorry if this took a while…but anyways, fall break! While others in my program traveled around with their parents, I went on a cruise with the three other girls whose parents did not come.  It was such a wonderful week full of relaxation, sea, FREE food, and three (well two in my opinion) beautiful countries.  A cruise? But isn’t that so expensive? Think of it this way, all of my meals (besides one in Greece) were free. I didn’t have to pay for a hostel of hotel every night. I didn't have to pay for transportation between places (besides taxis when we docked), which is easily about 75 euro one way. I was ensured safety and with four females that’s pretty important. Instead of having to spend a lot of my time waiting around in either an airport or train station, I could spend my time relaxing by the pool or climbing up the rock wall. And lastly, for those who do not know, I love the water. I worked as a lifeguard over the summer, spend many days at the lake, and go on boats any chance I get. I don’t know what it is, but I love being around the water so, the Splendor of the Seas turned out to be a wonderful decision for me.

We boarded our ship in Venice, so that morning we ended up leaving the villa by 5:30 in order to make the train to Florence and then switch to our train to Venice.  The way to the train station became very difficult when one of the theater students we were travelling with had the wheel and handle of her luggage break before we even got into town. So trying to haul her luggage to the station ended up making us late for the first train the Florence that had few stops in between which made us then have to wait for another ten minutes on the next train that had many stops.  Long story short, by the time we ended up in Florence we had five minutes to find the platform for Venice, validate our tickets, and run to the platform to get on the train. I don’t know how we did it, but we were able to make our train to Venice.

Once we got on the ship, everything from there was smooth sailing (no pun intended). We found where we needed to go in Venice, easily got checked in (even though the lady who was checking us in was plain out stupid), and got on the ship. We didn't have to wait forever to get our luggage, there were places already open on the ship to eat at, and everything was wonderful.  We explored around a little bit and ended up leaving the port about two hours after we boarded.  Being able to see Venice from the point of view was incredible. Being the expert on Venice that I am, it was so simple to point out the Basilica di San Marco and its bell-tower, the Doge’s palace, and other trade marks of Venice from the top of the ship.  It was so beautiful. 

My favorite part of the night, however, was probably dinner. Our waiters, Jose and Marcello, were so nice, the water was free, and the food was delicious.  It’s been so long since I have had a meal like that. And seafood. Oh, the seafood. It had been months since I’ve ate seafood.  Until you have to constantly pay for water and eat pasta endlessly, you won’t understand how exciting this is.

The next morning we arrived in Dubrovnik, Croatia.  None of us knew anything about Croatia so we had no plan once we got off the ship but to wander around and see what comes up.  We ended up taking a taxi to the old town.  I can’t tell you anything historical about the old town since I know nothing about Croatia, other than that it was beautiful.  It reminded me a lot of Arezzo, since it was small and had a Renaissance feel to it, but was different in many ways.  The streets were made out of marble instead of cobblestone like the streets of Italy.  Also, the currency changed to where 100 of whatever their currency was worth like 20 US dollars.  Sounds nice, until you figure out that the prices were a lot higher in their currency, but overall, things ended up being cheaper there. 

We walked around the town for a bit, sampled liquors in the local market area, and believe it or not found ourselves walking around in one of the churches.  Dr. Thomas, Dr. Chance, and Dr. Kennedy would be so proud if they saw us walking around that church, hearing us whisper to each other about how the architecture was more of a gothic style than a Baroque and so on.  While in churches, I’ve made it a habit to light a candle in honor of both my grandmothers. I’m not personally very religious and none of us are Catholic, but I know it’s something that they would both be proud of.

Another interesting thing we came across in Croatia was this little street with jewelry vendors selling their hand-made works.  One of the vendors there was so sweet, bargained with us, and ended up giving us free earrings just because we were nice.  So some of my friends and family are going to end up with some Croatian jewelry. 

The rest of the day we just continued to walk around. Croatia hadn’t been someplace that I was extremely excited about, but I turned out to be pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t extremely touristy, the views of the sea were wonderful, and most of the people there were extremely nice.   It’s not somewhere I would necessarily go back just because I felt like I’ve seen everything there is to see, but it’s somewhere I would recommend going. 

The girls: Alicia, myself, Kira, and Juny