Pizza tour of Naples, funded by Arcadia (aka class trip to Naples)

Follow up from the Ravenna post: I wanted to make a note to all readers as to the proper pronunciation of "Janing".  Jan, the name, is a soft 'j', as most will know from the Anchorman reference when he goes for a jog, also with the soft 'j' use. This however is legitimate in that Jan is Belgian and is actually a soft 'j'. Thus it it janing with a soft 'j'. It adds to the ambiance of the term. Moving on.

Last weekend I went to Naples on another class trip. This time was much better then last time when I was there for a grand total of maybe 4 hours, most of which was spent in the train station. For those that have not been there, it is kinda gross there, especially when you walk out of the train station. It's all clearly illegal immigrants that are selling the knock off stuff left and right and are rather creepy individuals. Anyway. I started out with low expectations even knowing this was going to be better then last time. I was with 4 other students, Kelsey, Jack, Natasha and Alex from my class (there are only 6 of us and our professor but Lily couldn't go). Our professor's name is Alex and he is german and a red head. The man is a gem if there ever was one. He often dresses as if he walked out of a crayola crayon box; He once wore bright yellow pants, a candy apple red sweater with a blue and white striped button-down shirt. If his lectures make us drowsy, his outfits are there to wake us up. When not worn together, there is often one of these fine articles of clothing represented at every class. Anyway, his wardrobe was not the purpose of our trip.

Alex in the flesh. 

We started with a museum, the Naples National Archaeological Museum, which houses part of the Farnese collection (we visited the other half here in Rome) and tons and tons of things they found in Pompeii. They were some pretty cool things, though I think alot of it was closed off because we went through all of it rather fast. They had some cool mosaics though from the floors and walls of Pompeii houses. (They had alot of Roman statues. We all know that I don't get tired of that stuff so I have more pictures of those.. Im getting really good at identifying people without looking at the name plates. Win).

Tash and Kelsey with Hercules

Marcus Aurelius 

This was the cover of one of books for my Ancient Rome class.. WILD

Famous floor that's on the covers of lots of text books

Since there wasn't too much of interest other then typical museum (read: old) things I'll move on to what really matters: pizza. We successfully convinced Alex (our professor. yes it is confusing with Girl Alex in the class and professor Alex, who we just call Alex, as well as another BOY Alex in our program. Fortunately he has a plethora of nick names: Dusty, Jerry, Boy Alex etc) to take us to get pizza for lunch at a famous pizza place that Kelsey and Natasha went when they came earlier in the semester. (I'm sorry that was rather long winded and confusing sentence. I like to use parentheses). It was called Gino Sorbillo's and I think it was the best pizza I've EVER had. I was frazzled when I had to order so I just got a margherita pizza (which is straight tomato sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil). Which is the greatest rush decision ever. I'm pretty sure that there was ricotta cheese on there too and probably some crack as well because it was amazing. And the dough. Its just SO GOOD THERE IS NOTHING BAD ABOUT NAPLES PIZZA. except the location. I have also been informed that the water in Naples is what makes the crust great. (which means there is a high chance that there is crack in it. But i'll save the mafia for an upcoming post :) ) We were all very satisfied with our pizza and very full. So yummy.

We then took the tram thing they have in Naples to the top of one of the mountains that surrounds Naples, to this monastery that has been turned into a museum. It was pretty cool. The church attached was the most busy I've ever seen, in terms of the decorations. All of the marble was colored marble and thus made it a very chaotic sight. It wasn't bad but it clearly showed how much money they had because the colored marble is rather pricy. You know, as marble goes.... But we walked through the courtyard and took some absurd pictures with skulls that were decorations (....weird) and were only able to see one level of the museum. Side note: This was the beginning of culture week, which I think may be a nationwide thing because this was free as well as most things in Rome this week. So the first floor of the museum was closed because they could because it was also free. I don't get it but I stopped questioning Southern Europe ways of life... They make things much more complicated then need be.

So given that we were on top of the mountain it had fantastic views of Naples and the ocean (its on the western coast, south of Rome, but right on the water). It was lovely. We walked down and it was the same view but obviously slightly different as we went farther down.. Nonetheless, lots of pictures were taken.

the gang

Alex in the Monastery Garden. 

We went back to our hostel since we were out of time to go to the last place we were supposed. This was the biggest difference between this trip and the one with Jan. Jan would not let us talk him into going to get pizza for lunch and taking 2 and half extra hours out of our schedule to go to a famous pizza place. Or walk at our own pace. And god forbid we miss seeing something. Alex walked at our speed, stopped to see things not on our list and obvi stopped for pizza. Anyway, we got back to our hostel and had a chance to rest before going to eat again. Our hostel though was the greatest place ever. It was all neon colors and it was super fun. There was a little bar and a massive flat screen tv with about 200 movies (some in english, some not), a wii, and washer and dryer. It was super!! Our room for the 5 of us (teacher Alex got his own room, which was neon blue and had his own bathroom) was neon green and had a cute little balcony with a pretty sweet view of the city. I'm not a fan of Naples but if you go, go here. It is actually the best thing beside the pizza to have happened that weekend.
http://www.hostelnapoli.com/languages/english/

So. Then it was time to eat again and we went to another famous pizzeria that I can't remember the name of. It started with a T, but I couldn't even begin to guess to google it. It was a little bit of a walk from the hostel, but we were all still pretty full from lunch that walking more was going to make room for more pizza, which is all that matters on a pizza tour of Naples. I got a white margherita, which means that instead of tomato sauce, its fresh cherry tomatoes cut up on top of the cheese, still with basil. Still pretty solid. I couldn't finish mine because I was so full and we had beer but it was wonderful. There was so much bonding at the dinner table. So cute. We came back after and hung out for a little before we went to bed.

The next day we were up somewhat early to get breakfast and go to Pompeii (They had peanut butter and nutella for on toast. good start to the morning)!  We took a bus to Pompeii, where we got a tour guide and Natasha's family joined us (they were visiting so they came down with us for part of it). It was pretty cool. We saw the theaters that they used as well as the places that the gladiators were kept in their little cells. We walked through the streets which was fun and we saw a place that was a bakery and a pizza place. nom nom nom. We couldn't go in the bath complex because it was closed for renovations but there are worse things. It was a beautifullll day; so sunny and not a cloud in the sky and just enough of a breeze. We saw the forum and they also had a display of all the things that they found. They had the plaster casts of the people that were made as well. The way that they made them was when the drilled down and found an empty cavity, they filled it with plaster then took out the mold. The body had long decayed and turned into dust and so they were able to make the casts. wild.

our tour guide

We got gelato at this point. not bad.

We walked to a villa that was just outside the forum and then more outside the city itself to another villa. I don't really know much about it but in the first villa I may or may not have taken another rock. :) Sorry I'm not sorry. We saw the famous frescoes in the villa outside the city which were awesome because they were so vibrant and well preserved.

At this point we had concluded our tour of Pompeii so we all went back to the city to get MORE PIZZA! Teacher Alex claimed he didnt want anymore pizza but he would sit with us. So we went to da Michele! (That's the place that I went the last time I was in Naples, the place where Eat, Pray, Love was filmed). We waited for awhile and were finally seated. Alex got a pizza. Like you could pass up pizza in Naples. That's the only reason I would go back. Ever. 

Buona Pasqua!!

That means Happy Easter/Passover in Italian! They have the same word for both holidays. I thought I should update briefly before I leave for spring break!! I could technically say that I am now on spring break because im going to be missing my class tomorrow FOR GREEECEEEE AOINGAEIURGA;JFJGNIWLBRGWRNGB IM SO EXCITED.

We leave before the sun comes up tomorrow to fly to Athens, then take a (9 hour) ferry to Crete where we are staying in an all inclusive resort!! Were there for about 2 and half days and then were taking a ferry to Mykonos for 3 or 4 days! Then we end in Athens where we will get to go to the Acropolis!!!! WAHHHHH ITS GOING TO BE AWESOME. Im travelling with Erica, Natasha, Kelsey, and Amy and we're meeting alot of our friends in Mykonos. It's going to be fantastic. Sun SUn Sun Sun! (i just got sunscreen and it is so expensive here!! i spent 20 euro. its the cheapest that they had. rip off).

I have started blog posts for Naples and Pompeii, and Sicily (I was there last weekend on a trip with school about the mafia, it was so awesome!! promise ill write about it eventually) but they will not be finished before i leave. I am really struggling in the packing area because i have to take a carry on for 9 days!!! HOW am i supposed to pack that much in my vera. absurd. but i dont want to pay to check it. yobs. its going to be packed to the brim.

So last night I went to a seder that my program hosted at a pretty nice restaurant for those that were interested. It was free so obviously I went and i love my jew friends. ;) It was pretty good we had pasta which caused a hub bub because your not supposed to eat leavened stuff but apparently it wasnt but i dont know. it was good i ate it all. we had a alot of free wine too which was awesome. At the end of the meal, true to tradition they hid the afikoman, the matzah in the napkin, somewhere in the restaurant and I found it!!! YAY winning! So they told me to come to the office to pick up my prize and this is what i got!!!

This is to scale. It is actually that big

Super excited to have all this chocolate. And milk chocolate nonetheless. and a green wrapper!! so great. These giant eggs are all over here and I guess all the kids get them. I dont care. I love it. Its going to be a great welcome home goodie when im all depressed about having to leave greece.

Some of you might not know quite how epic this is going to be. I love ancient Roman history almost as much as I love ancient Greek history. You know how i teared up in the Colosseum? Repeat Acropolis style. It's going to be so amazing. IM JUST SO EXCITED. In Crete we are right on a nice sandy beach and in Mykonos were going to go scootering around the island!! 

Hope everyone has a great break!! Buona Pasqua!!

Janing in Ravenna

Janing: speed walking for the purpose of historical sightseeing.
Last weekend, I went on a class trip to Ravenna with our professor, Jan. He's Belgian and walks fast. This was of some concern because I don't walk fast. Yes we did create a verb out of his name. The 7 of us and Jan walked around Ravenna in circles seeing things in chronological order. I think we saw all of the churches in Ravenna in 24 hours. Actually only 24 hours. Maybe 26. I think the final count of churches was 14? I'm not sure but we won't go through all of them, just the highlights of the trip.
First, for Francesca's sake, I saw Dante's grave. Since living with her I have learned everything about him possible, as I'm sure i've mentioned. Dante is buried in Ravenna, instead of Florence where he spent most of his life, because he died in Ravenna in exile. Florence has been trying to get his remains back but Ravenna refuses. Because we had a strict schedule to keep to, we couldn't go in but don't worry I saw the outside. twice.

One thing Ravenna is known for is it's mosaics. I saw not aware of this but nonetheless they were beautifulll. Fortunately those have been kept in tact. There was one church, the Church of the Holy Apostles I believe, right behind Dante's grave, that had some of the best. There was also the Basilica of San Vitale, which was the last place that we went to, which was phenomenal. The apse and the altar area was 3 stories high of these bright colored mosaics. Also a mausoleum outside San Vitale had some great mosaics as well.

From the ceiling of a Baptistry

The best part about the trip was they pay for our dinner the one night that we were there. He took us to this place that he goes every time he's in Ravenna (which sounds like it's alot actually, he said he's taking 3 more classes there the next 3 weekends..). He got us wine and alot of appetizers and then dinner. I got a great pizza with peppers onions and sausage and traded half of it for Kelsey's pizza which was a white pizza with asparagus and pepperoni. They were both so so so good. All of the noms. Then dessert. Wonderful. I got some lemony creme brulee. I dont know I wasn't paying for it so we went all out and got alot. I mean we did already pay for it with tuition but Im going to make my tuition, that my parents are paying, go as far as I can. I'm a good business major.
Along with free dinner and seeing more churches then should be humanly possible, the weather was beautiful. It was like 65 and sunny and breezy. Pretty freaking great. I would have laid out if I had time... But clearly we didn't. It made the trip alot easier, not that it was awful at all. I had good company with Kelsey, Lily, Jack and Evan, and of course Jan.

Always looking good

If I had a much larger bank account I would make time to go back up because the shopping there was so cute. It was all these great boutique stores that would all look great in my closet.. It was just so cute. We were definitely the only Americans for a while which was cool. We of course got alot of looks not just because we were an awkward mass of students following around this man furiously scribbling down critical notes. It's also really small, given the fact that we walked all of it. 

Fortunately it was only one night because I don't know that I could have handled more walking; I slpet til 3 the next day because I was recovering. 

I have finally caught up on all my blogging that I have been neglecting for so long. Which is good because it's so nice out now that I would never have gotten it done. 

This next weekend I'm going on another class trip to Naples and Pompeii. I am so looking forward to Pompeii. Naples is whatever. But im banking on some good pizza again. nom nom nom

Amsterdam

So the week that was book-ended by Paris and Amsterdam was a wild one, for all 3 days of it. Let me set the stage for you: When I got back from Paris on Monday morning, I got back to my apartment at noon with a one hour turn around time to get some food switch gears and head to my midterm. This is not quite like any other midterm week that I've had, or will have. That's right this was midterms week. When abroad my friends, when abroad. So I made it to my midterm on 5 hours of sleep, 2 of them on the plane and half and hour one one of the buses.. It went fine. (I got an 86 which is just fine with me). I then came home and slept for 17 hrs before i got up to study with Kelsey before what was going to be my hardest exam, and I was obviously concerned. She had a pretty legit study guide compared to my nothing. Nonetheless I took that one and I thought it went relatively well. This is Tuesday. Wednesday was my last of the four. We had Italian the week before because that class schedule is different for some reason.. Anyway I woke up earlier (630) for that class to once again study for my museum exam and that was also relatively easy as well. And then THursday we didn't have class because it was the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Italy's Unification. And St. Patrick's Day, but they don't really celebrate that here... Nonetheless to celebrate all of the above, the whole group went out for a night of dancing at a club and I have to say I think it was a success. (That was Wednesday night) And THursday night Erica, Kelsey left for Amsterdam! So there you go. Quite a week/3 days.

Though it was unfortunate because they were supposed to have fireworks all over and parades on wednesday night but because it was raining it was postponed to thursday night, so we didnt get to see anything. However there is one thing y'all should know about italian "unification", which is that it is used as a loose term. The north and south are completely different areas and there are many that believe that the south should not be a part of Italy. Italy was a mass of small kingdoms that were brought together in 1870 and made into one country. They think of themselves first and foremost based on their region like sicilian. Not everyone even speaks italian either, but they for sure speak the local dialect before they speak italian. now most do but the real old timers don't. Anyway, there's a certain lack of national pride that many Americans are not lacking. It was only about a week before the 150th that we started seeing Italian flags. Sad. Oh well looking forward to 4th of July this summer!!!

Thursday night. We made it to Amsterdam kinda late but that's ok we made it to our hostel which was bumpin for what I thought we were going to be staying at. It was pretty nice there were some pool tables and a bar and place to eat on the first floor and then we stayed in a room on the second floor. We went to Leidseplein Square which was real busy. Its a square that has tons of bars and coffee shops and theres a casino right around the corner. it basically seemed like the center of night life and it was a block from our hostel. We weren't really worried about what time it was. We were walking around and this club promoter invited us in for ladies night which started with a free drink. We accepted. He really had to twist our arm... We left after the free drink and headed to the Irish bar to celebrate St. Patrick's Day for real. Lucky us! We got more free drinks. perks of the double standard. At this point we thought it a good idea to call it a night so we could be up and ready for the next day that we had planned!
On Friday we arrived late to breakfast which was unfortunate. But we got some granola and milk so that was good. We met a tour group that the hostel had a connection with and we walked over to a pretty big square. best part of this upcoming tour? its free. I believe our guys name was Mark? Dave? Something rather generic but he was nice enough. We saw so much; I couldn't tell you all of it because it was a lot.  One thing though is Amsterdam has more canals then Venice does. Surprise!

Some of the more memorable parts of the tour was when we walked through the red light district and there were a wide variety of women standing in their windows. That was not something one sees everyday. haha but he also showed us the china town which is where we went for dinner that night which was a good decision. More later.
When we finished the tour, we were really close to the Anne Frank House, which we had pre purchased tickets for so we went and were able to jump the massively long line. Now I've never read Anne Frank's Diary but I know the story. I had no idea she hid in Amsterdam though. So that was wild to be able to walk through her house and we saw her room where all of the things she put on the walls were still up. That was weird. They also had all her diaries there too which was real intense. Im glad that we went. At this point we decided it was time for a pick me up and headed towards the Heineken factory. Yay! On the way there, we bought hats that said Amsterdam around them. It was cold and you know what it was so worth it. I'm going to wear it all the time! Ha! We also found a bagel place on our way there OMG TALK ABOUT A WIN. They don't really have bagels here in Rome and so it was the greatest thing ever to find real bagels. I got an everything with chive cream cheese. It was the equivalent of about 5 US dollars but it was so worth it. The rain had slowed at this point and that was nice so we kept going trekking to the factory, all wearing our hats. These are one of those things that all the tourists get, all places have them. So we very clearly look like tourists. Some one tried to ask us directions. In Dutch. I dont get it.

Kelsey, Erica and I inside!

In the Brewery, they showed us how they make the beer, obviously and there was one part where we all stood on this platform that moved a little and they sprayed water on us as if we were part of the brewing process, cheesy and fun. Then we got to try a little beer. nom nom nom. That was nice then we walked through more of it and there was more propaganda and then we got to the end and we got 2 more big beers and that was nice too. The tour was 15 euros and it was worth it because its just something you have to do in Amsterdam. I almost got a shirt but I refrained haha. Afterwards we walked all the way to the opposite side of town to get dinner in china town. We ended up getting some really good thai food and I got some great pad thai food. 

On Saturday, it was much prettier which was great because we had planned to ride bikes all day. That is one thing, they ride bikes more then they drive I feel like. We made it to breakfast that morning which was good because it was quite a spread, we took some goodies to go. Then we rented some bikes for the day and rode to Vondel Park which was right across from our hostel. We rode around and it was a beautifulll day! Great day for a bike ride. 

After wards we rode around and saw the flower mart and had a lunch by one of the canals. Later in the afternoon we made our way over to the Van Gogh Museum, which was awesome. It was so cool to see all of his paintings! I wish I could have taken some pictures but unfortunately we weren't allowed to. We were worn out after the long day of riding around that we took a nap and went to the Hard Rock across the street from our hostel for dinner. It was so worth the 20 euro. I got some pulled pork and ribs, just some good american food. It was great. We had to get up super early but it was a great trip. It was much prettier then I thought it was expecting and now all I want to do is find a place to rent bikes here in Rome!

Paris!

I must preface this and the following couple blogs with my apologies that it has taken me THREE weeks  to catch up on my blogging. they will be worth it because I have been traveling alot. I am currently under the weather, which is severely unfortunate because it's the most beautiful weather we've had here yet. Lucky for you because I now have extra time to spend documenting my excursions.


A couple weekends ago I went to visit Paris with Gretchen and Adam and all of Gretchen's program friends, who happen to all be from AU (Gretchen is studying there for the semester, incase y'all forgot). I should let everyone know that I have no idea how the french language works and I think it's unnecessarily complicated. I was only able to master a few words: let's go (allons-y, which does not look right at all but google translate told me it was so ok) and merci. I didn't even understand how to say 'i don't speak french'. Though I did realize that I learned some from some distinguished artists such as Jesse McCartney ("parlez vous francais" from his body language song) and the ladies who sing Lady Marmalade from Moulin Rouge. (More on Moulin Rouge later ;) )But the lyrics of Lady Marmalade was never going to be useful in any language so that was out. So all in all I knew/know nothing. Good thing Gretchen knows what she's doing. 
Gretchen and Adam met Francesca and I and Francesca's roommates from school at their hostel and we went back to her place so I could drop off my bag. She in a home stay and has her own apartment of sorts which is pretty snaz and it was quite cozy between the 3 of us. mmm  Gretchen showed us her school and I nommed on a sandwich and eclair as we walked. It's a beautiful city. All of the buildings are so detailed and have lovely balconies. Rome is more industrial looking I guess. After we stopped and got crepes. YUM. I got one with nutella and bananas. OMG SO GOOOOODDDD. Gretch got one with an egg and cheese and yumminess and Adam got a hot dog in a baguette. Which was real good. (Also Europeans are strangely in love with hotdogs? I've had it on pizza and the place below me has then wrapped in bread with cheese. I don't get it. But i don't hate it.) 

First picture in France: Win

A homeless man came up and asked Adam for his hot dog. That was rather amusing. After we finished, we walked over to the Luxembourg Gardens and made a gp (game plan) for the weekend. Rather extensive with lots of touristy sight seeing and eating and gallivanting about to be done. I steeled myself in anticipation for it. We walked to the outside of the Pantheon, which is much larger then the Roman one and doesn't have a hole in the top (which means its not as cool). We then meandered (what I thought was meandering) around along what I think was the river and Surprise! there was the Notre Dame! I don't think i was really paying attention when they were making the plan, obviously. It was pretty exciting. yay tourist!

We walked through the inside where I proceeded to lose Adam and Gretchen momentarily and almost freaked out because I don't know where Gretchen lived or how to speak the language and my italian phone is quite possible the most unreliable thing on this earth. But moments later we were reunited. Crisis averted. I learned Gretchen's address as well. I have begun to like looking at churches obviously because we have about all of them in Rome and I spend alot of time learning about them in my class 'From Rome to Baghdad' so I think I enjoyed it a little more then Adam and Gretchen. And I'm sure Gretchen has been inside like 5 times already anyway. Her friends Julianne and Sam met us outside afterwards and we discussed dinner options and apparently we were going for noodles at this chinese place. I wasn't complaining; i haven't had chinese since i got here/ going into withdraw. 
The 3 of us then made our way over to the arc de triomphe. We walked up the street and walked around it and then walked up it. I was prepared to walk up to the top of this one and was ready when i saw the tight windy staircase. Adam was also white knuckles going up but it was worth it for sureee! The Eiffel tower was so pretty too!! Lots of pictures taken. 

I believe after this we did something but i can't remember. It has been a very long time and I even had to make an outline to make sure that I didn't forget anything. Thank you boring guest speaker. I will take this moment though to express my amazement at the metro system in Paris. THERE ARE 14 LINES. Like oh my god. and they aren't short either, most have like 15-20 stops. Thats alot of metro to build. In Rome we have 2 lines. Mostly because, you cant dig 50 feet without finding ruins and then it takes ages to figure out if it was important or not etc etc etc and this is Italy (everything takes 3 times longer here then anywhere else, with a few exceptions). 
Moving on, the three of us met Gretchen's friends Hanna, Sam, Matthew and Julianne for dinner that night for noodles. so good. just so good. we did unfortunately keep running out of water due to the fact that we tucked in the back and got kind of ignored for being the loud american kids. worth it. They are hilarious people. thank god I go to school with most of them back at home. Im going to MAKE them be friends with me. just kidding. but only sort of. After wards we walked to this little bar called Le Kitch. If Gretchen were a bar, Le Kitch is it. It was so tiny and full of locals and it was super hipster. It was wild. We had a great time. We then went to another area and went to a couple other places before calling it a night.
Saturday was another fantastic day. We woke up relatively early (10) and grabbed brunch. I got a warm ham and cheese croissant. NOM NOM NOM NOM. and just some water. but boy was it good. no calorie was left behind that weekend. but we walked alot so it was ok. Moving on. We went to the Louvre! And it was a beautiful morning too. and the Louvre metro station has ancient busts inside the station. when you walk out of the metro. Those French. Damn. So obviously we had to go see the Mona Lisa is all her glory. And you know she was bigger then I thought she was going to be which was nice to see. Adam and I elbowed our way to the front and each took turns taking one on one pix with the babe. Ha! 

 Ah the Winged Victory

I then found the ancient roman rooms and the ancient greek rooms. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life to choose which one to go into first. Im not kidding. But Greece won out, mostly because i like their god statues better. So while i soaked up as much as i could, Adam and Gretchen and our friend Kelsey who is also in Paris, went down to the Egyptian area. I was in heaven. Thank god they didnt have too much more, atleast in that area because i would have had more trouble leaving. I walked quickly through the roman area (and touched one or maybe 2... of the statues shhhh :) ) and then we met to leave. Side note: if you are a student in the EU, you can get in for free. Also the floors are slippery. I know because I fell down the steps. In the middle where everyone is. Not embarrassing at all. We didn't see much in terms of the size of the Louvre, but there is no way that we could have seen everything. i'll be back though. One day. 

Our plan that afternoon was to have a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower because it was supposed to be the nicest day. Well we couldnt because it was raining when we got to the eiffel tower. boo. We stopped somewhere and I got a gigantic cappuccino and we got sandwiches. We then went over to see Moulin Rouge and the countless sex shops. It was a semi decent place during the day but I'm sure its completely different during the night hahah. We then walked to the top of the hill behind to this church (which I feel bad that I can't remember :( ). We took a bus to the top because it would have been a trip and a halfff to walk the whole way up. This is where I got my first macaroon! I've never had them before and didn't really know what to expect and don't ask me why but I got a passion fruit flavored one. At first I wasn't a big fan but it grew on me adn I wish that I had tried more flavors in Paris. I'm sure I'll find them in Rome. Anyway. The church was so pretty and it was very different then all the Roman churches. It was raining by the time we got there adn there was some dance crew that was preforming outside. we watched them for a little adn then went inside where there were nuns giving mass. talk about a complete change in the mood. It was a pretty cool church, though I do have to say the outside looked cooler then the inside.. Anyway the view of Paris from the steps is awesome and I'm sure it would have been that much better if it wasn't raining and foggy, which how I gather Paris weather is most of the time.  

 Moulin Rouge

We got crepes for dinner that night which were real good. I think I got egg ham and cheeesssee. There was so much cheese. We got it and walked over to Sams apartment where we hung out for a little before we all went out again. Adam and I got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle which was amazing and I loved ittt. (Sam can see the top of it from her window, SO parisian). The big group of us walked to this bar the Chameleon and had a drink before we walked to another bar called the Highlander. Which is funnny because we have a Highlanders here in Rome. Wild. just Wild. it was here where I slipped down the steps  again and proceeded to realize that I had been pick pocketed. EPIC FAIL. I was so upset. Neither of the bars had my two cards and the pick pocketer got 50 euros too. Oy. Well fortunately dad took care of it and all said and done, We didn't have to pay their 600 dollar dinner and bar tabs. Other then that, we all had a great time at the bar just dancing and singing and having a great time!! Small Downer: the dj didnt know who ke$ha was. get some culture

The next morning was our picnic! we were determined! we had bought all our groceries the night before so that was great. I made some of my guacamole and we had prosciutto, cheese and fresh bread, croissants, fancy pastries, mimosas, to-go creme brulees, kiwis, and i think thats all... we had quite a spread. And i have to hand it to the Parisians. They have nailed the bread thing. But Italy is a close 2nd. The three of us had a great time and I haven't laughed that hard in a very very long time. It was a little chilly but we were sitting in front of the eiffel tower; it was great. 

Parisian

We walked up to the bottom of it and then decided to go to the catacombs. Now I have to say that I haven't really had a desire to see the catacombs in Rome and this was not quite on the list of things that I wanted to do but it was fine that we went. We were some of the last people to get in before they closed it. Win. I did not realize it was going to be down yet another long spiral staircase and then along long underground pathways as well. I trying to keep my cool but lord knows being abroad I learning all my fears as they creep up. (though i have never enjoyed the idea of walking through dark underground tunnels because god knows when that ceiling is going to come crashing in..). When we finally got to the catacombs, it was just all bones and skulls all over. It was kinda creepy. They were all arranged in designs and stuff. It was worth it I guess. I'm not really looking forward to going to another one again but you know whatever. I'm abroad I gotta do things I wouldn't normally do..

So since we were all lacking in the sleep department that weekend, we went back and napped before going out to dinner for Gretchen's Birthday!! Adam and I tried to no success to organize her friends to come surprise her and such but alas. we failed. we bought her a more then 5 euro bottle of wine and some chocolate which we carefully wrapped in a plastic bag and gave to her at dinner. It was the cutest little place where you could go for dinner or for drinks. Gretchen said their steak tartar was good so I tried that for the first time. It was alright, a little strange so I'm not sure that i'll be getting it again but whatever. We split a really good salad too. Matthew and Hanna joined us a little later and thus commences the unnecessary amount of laughter. But so worth it. We walked to go get dessert. We hung around outside for a little and just chatted, as it was Adam and I's last night and almost Gretchen's 21st birthday!! 

I had to get up super early and it was real rough because i was feeling slightly under the weather mostly due to the fact that I hadn't really slept all weekend. Though it was all worth it. I had the BEST time with everyone and it was fantastic to see friends from home. Not to mention the amount of laughing that was had was the most in forever. miss you biddies.