the world as i know it.

First off..I thought I liked Spain..but it is NOTHING compared to my love of Italy. Everything here is soooo unbelievably beautiful and historic. This country has so much history that it makes America look like a little baby..I feel like we have nothing really that cool or old now, as sad as that sounds. Everything here feels like you’re in a movie..or maybe I’ve just seen the Lizzie Mcguire movie too many times haha. It was so neat eating dinner outside in little ristorantes on cobblestone roads and an accordion player is right there playing for you..exactly like a movie. Almost to the point that it seems as fake as the Universal backlot. Not to mention all the food here is unreal..so delicious. I could live off of pasta, bruschetta, wine and gelato..granted I’d be 300 pounds but I think it would be worth it. It’s THAT good. I’m going to run like 20 miles on the treadmill as soon as I get back on the ship ahhh.

The people here are definitely friendlier too..I had to decline 3 marriage proposals walking from Santa Maria Novella to the Colosseum hahaha. They seem to think blondes are very fascinating..I now respond to Spice Girls in addition to Blondie and Barbie..cool.

Sooo the first day I got to meet up with Kayleigh in Rome which was so so so exciting. It was so lucky that we just happened to be there at the same time. I needed to see one of my best friends. We met in front of the Colosseum (just like in the movies haha) and somehow found each other despite there being like 10,000 people everywhere. We pretty much did all of Rome in one day..the Colosseum (so awesome), the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain (absolute favorite ever), all the famous piazzas, saw the ruins at The Forum, Spanish Steps, and shopping on Via del Corso of course (Rome’s version of Rodeo Drive). The only thing we didn’t do was the Vatican city because it just so happened to be some Roman religious feast day/holiday so they were holding services and it was just super packed..I guess that means ill just have to come back another time :) We witnessed a vespa accident and prostitutes in action..very exciting/interesting. They drive like crazy people..I was afraid for my life every time i was in a taxi. Then we went to some bar/ club-ish thing that was claustrophobic and strange and ended up meeting someone from SDSU..such a small world.

The next morning we took a train to Florence aka the most beautiful city in the world. I’m not sure if I agree with that statement..I’m still partial to Rome but it was still amazing nonetheless. We walked around and saw the Duomo and went to La Galleria Academie to see the statue of David. Wow. I am not an art buff or a good sightseer whatsoever but I was taken aback. It was HUGE. And really freaking cool. I couldn’t stop staring at it for like 20 minutes. It’s weird to see all these things I’ve seen pictures of in textbooks for years and years and then to experience it in real life. 10 delicious meals later we wandered around and saw the Trevere River and all the pretty bridges at night and found all these random piazzas that we didn’t know existed. One had a huge carousel with big hot pink feathers on all the horses..so adorable! I wish it was socially acceptable to ride a carousel at my age hahah. Florence is really neat..a lot quieter and more laid back than Rome though.

Thennnnn we went to Pisa to see the leaning tower. By the way..there is absolutely nothing else in that town besides that tower pretty much. It was totally worth going just to see that though. Pictures don’t do it justice..it REALLLYYYY leans. Like it looks like it could fall over any second. It doesn’t always look like that in pictures..but in real life..eeeek. We didn’t climb to the top but we took lots of those cheesy touristy pictures pretending to hold it up. It was greaaaat. There were signs saying to stay off the grass but of course we went on the grass anyways (anything for a good picture..duh) and then accidentally started a trend and everyone was on the grass and the caribinieri (Italian police) came out with crazy whistles and freaked out..oopsies. Then when we got back to Florence (and ate even more food) I got to talk to the MVPs in my life and then we went out to students night at The Fish Pub..it’s as sketchy as it sounds. Oh well..free champagne and I’m sold. Foreign people really need to learn about this thing called deoderant..the BO smell is really getting to my head.

Now I’m en route back to Civitavecchia (chiv-it-tuh-veck-eeyuh..took me like a week to learn how to say that) by myself (scary independent travel once again..) to go wine tasting in Tuscany with some friendssss..should be a good time. I think I’ll be a wine conniseour by the end of this trip. Oh and apparently this train is the one all the Italians take to get to the beach so everyone around me is wearing a bathing suit and speaking Italian and the baby next to me keeps slobbering on my arm..ew. Oh well I suppose it’s all part of the experience!

It’s way harder to adjust to all the different cultures, languages and climates of all these countries in such a short amount of time than I thought it would be. The first cab I got into in Rome I said “hola”..yeah they don’t really like it when you speak Spanish to them..I had to figure out how to say the basics in Italian besides ciao, pronto, bella and perfecto reaaal quick. I didn’t even know how to say please or thank you. I learned though :) In case anyone didn’t know, (because I definitely did not..) Italy is SO hot and humid. Like dripping sweat at all times. Which means showering multiple times a day and anyone that knows me knows that that is not my cup of tea. Better than it being cold though I guess.

Tonight I go to Naples (the murder capital of Europe..sweet) and then to the island of Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii! So glad I get to spend so much time in Italia..love love love.

Missing my favorite, fam, friends and pups a lot