Little Girl, Big City: L'Italia: A semester in Review.

I have put off writing this post for about a month now. I came to the decision that I just wasn't ready to reflect on my semester abroad because it would mean admitting that it was over. The four months I spent in Italy were possibly the most amazing months of my life. I met some incredible people, saw some of the most beautiful places in Europe, and made memories that will last me the rest of my life. It's taken me a month to come to terms with being back home, and I am now able to rejoice in the fact that it happened, not dwell on the fact that it's over. So here it goes.

On the sixteenth of January, I stepped onto a plane bound for London. I caught little sleep due in part to my pre-flight coffee, and to my anxious anticipation for what the next four months would hold. I have much to reflect upon, and it all starts on January sixteenth.

According to the Myers-Briggs personality test, I'm a "thinking" personality. It means I tend to rationalize things and then act upon them, as opposed to feeling them out. And not that I place great value upon the results of a personality test, but they can be very revealing. I think, that's what I do. And most thinkers tend to write a lot, and often. However, I can't keep a journal to save my life, and I have the hardest time keeping this blog regular. So, with a combined effort (thanks to Facebook, phone records, photos, postcards, and my very sporadic journal entries), I present to you the summation of my semester in Europe, a time that I learned to laugh, live, and love more fully than I ever have before.

January

1 - Preparations begin. After New Years, a day spent reading in bed and nursing a headache, I packed up what I needed for the next 4 months.

4 - On a flight bound for NY. Staying the next 10 days before departure.

16 - New York to London to meet my best friend Mauri. We stay with her friend, Caroline. :)

20 - London to Rome. All I saw was the inside of my hostel room, thanks to the flu. Dear miss Mauri adventured through the city on her own.

23 - We take a train to Venice. Venezia è una citta bellissima. I fell completely in love with the floating city.

26 - Train to Firenze.

29 - Orientation, awkward new meetings and introductions, and move-in to my host family, an Italian mother with an adopted daughter. Neither of which speak English.

Juliet and I took a van to the city center, and we rode with this kid, Josh. He's also in a homestay.

31 - First day of classes. I write, "Campus here in Florence is beautiful. We have a cat. Her name is Luna."

February

3 - "The history that the city holds is immense and is so exciting. I love my professors. They're all very knowledgeable and passionate."

"I've made a few friends! There's this one girl, Alyssa Vigliotti. She was in my RALI session for our RA application process. I like her."

Met the other home stay students.

8 - Day trip to Siena; met Melissa Benjamin. She's cool. :)

12 - Week of Valentine's Day. Bought myself a dress, red wine, chocolate, peanut butter (which doesn't exactly exist in Italy), and an absurd amount of cappuccini.

15 - Eli visits!

17 - Carnevale di Viareggio

18 - I become friends with Joel C Yates and Henry Knight. Two hilariously wonderful guys both involved in the Decameron.

21 - Juliet and I head out on a weekend trip to Madrid, Spain. Filled with lots of laughter, sangria, and tapas. Oh, and Mr. Cutrone, of course. :)

The weekend was spent boating in el Parque del Retiro, browsing the Museo del Prado, shopping (much to Mr. Cutrone's dismay), and wandering through the streets of Madrid, admiring buildings, architecture, and public political displays.

24 - became friends with Elena Mercado; she knows Mr. Cutrone, and she's in my politics class. Little do we know we're going to be RAs together next year. She's such a cutie.

26 - became friends with Christina Bandini, she's in my Etruscans class!

March

1- Bologna: the home of tortelloni, tortellini and bolognese sauce!

(Somewhere before now, met Emma Waterman, was super excited to hear she was coming to Bologna, and we climbed a tower together!)

3- Pisa

8 - Rome & Pompeii weekend

So much to do, so much to see. Pompeii was my dream come true visit. After climbing Mt. Vesuvius, we visited the city ruins and saw the body casts I've yearned to see since I was a 6th grade wanna-be volcanologist.

14 - Cheyanne & Jason are in Italy! We hit up this local restaurant called "Tamero" in the Santo Spirito area. They have the freshest, most amazing pasta. The New York Times travel section reviewed the restaurant here: Tamero!

17 - San Gimignano; Date with Josh

I think San Gimignano was the only city I didn't blog about. It's this awesome medieval town which had boasted about 72 towers in its glory days - and is most famous for the 12 remaining towers that survived. Families would build towers as a symbol of status and wealth. The higher the tower, the richer the family. The town itself stands on a hill in Tuscany, surrounded by a medieval city wall and boasting an amazing view of the Tuscan countryside. I went with my friends Alyssa and Soozy. The town itself was fun and quaint, undeniably a tourist destination, but we asked a local their favorite restaurant, and found our way to "La Bettola del Grillo" - where this very cute waiter left me a business card that read "You're beautiful". Upon our exit, he kindly asked me for "due baci" - a kiss on either cheek and whispered, "tu sei bellissima!"

Soozy, Alyssa and myself!

My journal entry reads, "I just went on a date. His name is Josh, and we went to a chocolate bar & got prosecco & chocolate cake. It was so much fun."

21 - Paris

Festa di primavera comincia! The Thursday night flight to Paris starts my 10 day spring break, a trip that will take me from France to England to Austria. Paris was beautiful.

Henry Knight surprised me at the Louvre!

24 - England

I stayed with my best friend Mauri in York, met with my brother Sean who lives in Sheffield, and we went to see our cousin's band, The Silent Comedy, in Leeds.

Sean, our cousins Jeremiah and Joshua, and myself backstage.

Tea time with Mauri!

27 - Vienna

My second favorite city in all of Europe (second only to Paris), was Vienna. My visit to Vienna was a cold, but rejuvenating one. It was amazing. I met with my friends Sara and Alyssa, and after touring the town by foot, we visited each Easter market in the city, saw Upper and Lower Belvedere, The Naschmarkt, and Die Zauberflöte at the Volksoper, and toured Vienna State.

April

The first week of April was my birthday week, and every night was an adventure of some sort or another! In sequence, it involved a dinner with Josh, a girl's night out, a two-day visit to Ancient Etruria, birthday dinner with friends, and homemade tiramisu from my host mom.

4 - "Sono felice"

5- met Anna Madsen, had girls night on the town! Thanks for being classy, Florence.

Tarquinia

Cerveteri

Birthday dinner!

Homemade Tiramisu

Happiest of birthdays!

14 - camping in Venice!

16 - got asked for directions. Gave them. In Italian. ;)

21 - Cinque Terre: My favorite place in the world.

Manarola

25 - München - frühlingsfest!

30 - Notte Bianca! A night where all of Florence stays open to experience a "White Night" without sleep.

Myself, Anna and Christina on Notte Bianca!

"L'amore spazia" - the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.

May

1 - Lucca!

9 - We perform The Decameron in the Villa La Pietra gardens. With the best director, assistant director (Thank you, Joel Yates) and the most amazing cast!