Baci

Ciao a tutti!

I left the States on the 27th to meet up with my best friend Heather in Greece. We spent New Years there in Athens and then headed on to Rome.

Athens was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. By far, one of the cleanest cities I've ever seen. The acropolis is unbelievable. It is so strange to me how structures that have been around for over 2000 years sit there in ruins while modern life goes on like normal. And the Greeks don't even think it's anything special....but neither did the Romans about driving past the Colosseum. I guess when you don't see it everyday and have only heard about it in textbooks and on TV, you are able to truly appreciate it.

The first ruins we stumbled upon...early in the morning.



The Acropolis. Our hostel was literally 2 minutes away.



Greek people are so friendly! This man saw my camera and insisted I take a picture of him.



It was only a few days after Christmas, so Santa was tired.



Olives!



Remnants of Christmas.



Sunset on daytrip to Aegina.



New Years was great in Athens too. We saw the firework display despite creepy guys trying to follow us for nearly an hour. Talking to the police was a definite way to get them to leave. We then opted for a low-key evening at a wine bar and ended up meeting three Italians who worked in Romania and were just in Athens for vacation. It was a nice evening overall, and a great way to ring in the New Year!

Rome was just as spectacular. The Vatican City was great, as was the Sistine Chapel. I think if I had done more research on what I was seeing before throwing myself into those frescoes and tapestries, I would have appreciated them more. I'll make note of that before I go back with the family in May. Heather and I spent practically an entire day in the Ancient City near the Colosseum. It's huge, and we got lost many times just staring at the massive arches.

Heather in front of St. Peter's Basilica.



Apparently, we were surprised at how MASSIVE the Colosseum is.



Yea, it's that huge.



Inside the Colosseum.



Just some stuff laying around the Ancient City from thousands of years ago...



Oddly, these trees are my new obsession.



I sadly had to leave Heather on the 4th to head to Perugia for my program. It was hard leaving her, but I'm so glad we got to spend that week together. It was as if we hadn't spent any time apart (she was in Prague for the fall semester studying abroad).

Perugia is GREAT! It's this tiny old town on the top of a hill in the Umbria region in the center of Italy. It's so hilly here, so hopefully I'll come back with legs of steel! I'm in an apartment with 6 other girls. I've only ever lived with one other girl, so it should be interesting. Everyone is so nice though! We're on the third floor, but we don't have much of a view. We're all trying to adjust to the heating situation. Heating and electricity is limited in Italy. Our apartment is only allowed 6 hours of heat a day, and the times are up to the landlords discretion. Layering has become my lifeline!

The food here is to die for! My parents always told me that eating was an event in Italy, and I just let it go in one ear and out the other.....but now, I know what they mean. The last two meals I've had have lasted a minimum of 3 hours with at least 4 courses. I feel so glutonous, but I feel that it's a good thing it's hilly here because you work off at least a few hundred of those calories just getting to the next destination.

Quick fact: Perugia is known for their chocolate. They have hazelnut covered chocolates called Baci that have little sayings written inside the package. The English translation for baci is "kisses" so they are similar to the idea of the Hershey's Kisses. They taste nothing like them though, and they have actual sayings on the paper, not just the name of the candy, but hopefully you sort of get an idea of what I mean. They even have Baci McFlurries at McDonald's!

I have yet to try gelato here in Perugia, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of it, so I'm in no hurry. The coffee (a.k.a. espresso) here is amazing, especially for my caffeine addiction. I'm fitting into the Italian culture quite nicely I like to believe.

Tomorrow we start a week of intensive Italian classes. We'll have Italian classes for 5 hours this week, and then next week we start our regular class schedule.

I hope everyone is doing well back home!! I'll try to update this as much as possible but take note that I won't be online as much as back home because 1) I'm in Italy, 2) Internet is hard to get here, but 3) don't think I don't love you.

A presto!