Days 110-117: The End

     These last few days have been spent finishing exams, shopping, and packing. I can't believe my time here is over. I have learned so much in this time and I am going to miss my host family and some Italian traditions that have really grown on me, like family dinner. Some crazy stuff has happened the last few days; there was a shooting outside of my school. It was a racist event and the man ended up killing himself after killing three of the cart sellers. It was really sad and the whole city was rioting and unsafe.
     Tonight, December 16 at 6 pm, I said goodbye to my host family, took my bags, and then Nick and I took a train to Rome. We left a day earlier than anticipated because of course there was a train strike in the morning.
     We rented a room to put our suitcases in, then explored the nightlife (or lack thereof). We ended up falling asleep and missed the train we were supposed to take; we would've missed our flight too but Nick's friend woke us up! We took a taxi to the airport, rushed through security as fast as we could and then.... the planes were all late by over two hours. We ended up making our plane and left Italy behind. After spending hours upon hours waiting, I had a direct flight home to Boston.
     My time here is officially over!

Days 107-109: Rome and the Vatican City

     This weekend in Rome was very relaxed. I was originally supposed to go with Caroline, but she got sick. So I decided to go on my own and explore the city at my own pace. I obviously saw the Collosseum. That was the thing I wanted to see the most. I spent several hours in that area just looking at the ruins and walking around. I walked the entire city in the two days that I spent in Rome. The Trevi Fountain was something that I'd seen in so many movies that experiencing that in real life was awesome.

     On the last day that I was in the Roma area, I went to the Vaticano. I saw everything in the day that I devoted to it, including the Sistine Chapel and walking to the top of St. Peter's Basilica. Although I didn't always know what I was looking at (Caroline always kept me informed as she is the art history major), I had a blast. I have never felt more independent than this weekend that I spent alone abroad. I think that everyone who studies abroad should take one trip on their own and spend some time getting lost and finding themselves.

 

     Rome and the Vatican City were really the same place to me. They appeared on the same maps that you could buy, everyone spoke Italian, and there were no crazy boundaries barring you from the enclave country.

Days 103-106: Getting Ready For Exams

     I spent most of these days working on my photography project. It was a project of our choice, and I chose to do reflections. It rained and so there were plenty of puddles, as well as christmas balls, doorbells, shop windows... really anything that was a reflective surface found its way into my project. I love to see how much better my photography has gotten since I first got my camera.

Day 96-102: Skits, Grocery, Uffizi.

     I cannot believe that it's been 100 days since I arrived in Italy! I had skits for my Italian class this week; we made up one about being on X Factor. I'm relieved my classes are almost over, but there are so many loose ends that need to be tied up before I leave here, specifically shopping and visiting Rome.
     I did some of the grocery shopping that I've done each week since I got here. This is a typical grocery list: Special K cioccolate, yogurt, zucchero cookies, apples, and bananas. The food here is so much better than in the states. I especially love the easy walk to get there instead of a 6 mile drive.
     I spent some time in the Christmas markets in Florence as well. They aren't as good as the ones in Munich, but the ambiance of the city has definitely changed since all the Christmas lights and shops are around.
     I visited the Uffizi on the 102nd day. I don't particularly enjoy Florentine art so I went through it very quickly. I do love the art in the Piazza around it though!

Day 95: Munchen day 3

     I was feeling much better today and after breakfast, Euroadventures brought us to Dachau concentration camp. This was one of the first ones opened and stayed open the whole war. It was really sad; the most memorable thing was a picture of a man that showed how he changed after a month of inhumane testing. He looked normal beforehand, but at the end he just looked miserable and ended up dying soon after the picture was taken. Seeing the gas chambers was creepy but because they'd never ended up using them in Dachau, it wasn't as sad as where they burned the bodies.

     After returning to Munich, I climbed to the top of the tower in the square. The views were gorgeous and you could see the Alps. I met some French people while I was here and spent some time talking to them. At 7:30, the whole group of us went to the station. Evan and I went to PizzaHut! I don't think I've ever been there in the states but I don't really enjoy the German food I've had so I stuck to something safe. At 9:50, the train left and we headed back to Florence. We watched Horrible Bosses and then The Other Guys. I can't wait to be back in Florence and sleep in my own bed!

Day 94: Munich part 2

     The Oktoberfest tents were where we started today. They had Christmas things set up. Most stuff they were selling was Native American, which was ironic. I spent a solid 5 hours here. 

     As I had barely slept the night before, I went back to bed at 2 pm for a few hours. I sadly was feeling sick, so I got Subway for dinner and then went back to my room with the girls I was rooming with. We stayed up awhile talking and then fell asleep.

Day 93: Germany!

     I went to Munich (Munchen), Germany with Euroadventures. We arrived at 7 am and everything was all Christmas decorated. Our hostel was outside of the city center. It's a good place for Oktoberfest, but not for the Christmas markets.

     After dropping our luggage off, we got a tour of the city. We walked through some of the Christmas markets, saw three churches, went to a field where you could walk around nude, and then saw "the wave". I would love to come here in the summer and see the people surfing on this manmade wave. But today was really really cold.

     Shopping in the Christmas markets was really enjoyable and I bought a lot of souvenirs to bring home to family. At 5 pm we met up to go to the Hofbrauhaus, which is the biggest beer house in the world. I didn't want to buy a beer as I don't really like the taste, so I asked this girl if I could pose with hers. When I put it back on the table it fell off into my lap! Luckily only half of it spilled, but I was covered. So here comes my funniest story of when I was abroad.

     The beer was so cold that I ended up taking my pants off and sitting in this massive restaurant in my underwear. After being there 20 minutes, this group of tourists from Asia came over and asked to take pictures with us because they'd never seen people with red hair. It was hilarious. After dinner we went back to the hostel. I went up to the bar on the fifth floor and hung out with some people. It was a nice way to end the night after a really busy day!