Thursday, December 20, 2012

Arrivederci Italia

Yesterday was my last day in Italy, and I spent it running last minute errands, throwing all my clothes together, cleaning out the apartment, getting coffee with Kaitlyn, and a mandatory stop at Grom with Natalie. We sat in the park and ate our last gelato and just laughed about some ridiculous stories. It's so funny how much we've learned since our first few weeks here.. We were laughing about how when we went to Alba Island the second weekend here, we sort of just showed up on the island and expected everything to work out.. without doing much research as to transportation, our hotel, things to do, etc. 
We've all learned to travel with such an ease now, and know exactly what we have to do to make things go smoothly. We learned how to deal with not speaking the language, not having cell phone maps or anyone to call for help, dealing with public transportation and crazy city metro maps, foreign currencies, and figuring out how to get around huge cities without anyone to showing us how to. It was tricky and frustrating at first but after a few trips, it became so much easier. I'm so jealous that Europeans live so close together and to can easily go to so many amazing different places!
Last night was my last night in Italy and I spent the night at the Maddies' apartment since all my roomies had already left. It was a struggle lugging two suitcases and a carry-on roller and a backpack, and required two trips across town and up and down lots of stairs, but it was nice to have everything all packed and be able to relax and have a great last night. It was Giacomo's birthday so we made a last minute decision to go out and ended up having a blast just dancing all night and enjoying our last night in Europe. We got home and stayed up even later talking, so after only a few hours of sleep we were up again and heading to the airport. Giacomo (our fav Italian) drove me and Maddie to the airport, and it was so sad saying goodbye to the other Maddie (who lives in Connecticut).
So many bags! & last view of Torino.

It's hard to believe that four months have come and gone and I can't even summarize how lucky I feel. I am so grateful to my amazing parents for all the support they've given me. THANK YOU, parents. I also feel so fortunate to have been able to work two jobs full-time this summer, and even though I sacrificed a social life, it was completely worth it.

SO MANY thing I'm going to miss:

1. The city. Torino is so beautiful and it was even more so when it started SNOWING! I had never even heard of this city a year ago, but am so glad I chose to study abroad in a place less well-known than other Italian cities because I was forced to learn the language and fit in with the Italian lifestyle. 


2. Italians and being able to (attempt to) speak Italian every day. I've met so many warm and friendly Italians and once you attempt to speak Italian, they will totally love you. I also loved volunteering at the preschool once a week, and it was sad to say bye to all the kids last Wednesday. Even though it was hard getting up so early some mornings, it was always worth it and it forced me to improve my Italian a lot! And I'm never going to forget the phrases "basta!" or "vieni qui!"

3. Traveling every weekend. Being in northern Italy was the perfect location to get to other countries at relatively inexpensive costs. I will not miss hostels or common showers or top bunks or trying to get some sleep while there is a rave happening downstairs. After almost four months in Europe, nine countries, 24 different planes, more than a dozen trains, and too many 3am wake-up calls, I can't believe I was able to see so many incredible museums, monuments, churches, buildings, and places. Traveling for 12 weekends took way more planning, organizing, and energy than I imagined and I think I've hit a new level of total-exhaustion. But I have a completely new outlook on travel now, and will never again take for granted any trip that someone else plans for me. ;) It's a lot of work! I will also never take for granted a spacious hotel room, a real bed, a shower that doesn't run the risk of containing fungal diseases, flights that actually offer drinks, or being able to rent a car instead of having to figure out public transportion in a foreign language. The past few months have been so unreal and I have a feeling I'll be home for a few weeks before it will really hit me.

4. The Italian food! Italian food is a lot different than it is America.. there is no such thing as fettuccine alfredo and spaghetti and meatballs is totally American. All dishes are a LOT more fresh, especially the pizza. Zero grease and alllll fresh-ness. Northern Italy has some of the most famous vineyards in the world and it was amazing to see the countryside and learn how wine is made! The open markets are also amazing.. the fresh and cheap veggies, the bargaining, and finding the coolest knick-knacks always make the open market so much fun. Not to mention that Italy also has the best tomatoes in the entire world and I have never liked them so much!


5. Amazing people. I'm so lucky to have met such great friends while being abroad and I loved all our weekend trips and adventures. My roommates here were so great and I'm really going to miss our weekly dinners, trips wandering down Via Garibaldi's shopping street, and all of our adventures. Can't believe I won't be seeing these people every day. :(



6. Any finally, gelato. A-ma-zing. Withdrawals will be rough. Fav flavors will always be crema di grom & fondente. :)

Hard to believe I'm saying arrivederci to Italia! I can't wait to be home later today.. only have a few long plane rides to go!

"Travel is more than seeing the sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of the living." - Miriam Beard 

xoxo

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

That time we went to the Olympics

.. or actually, that time we went to the Olympic Stadium ice rink of the 2006 Olympics. ;) On Monday night, we went ice skating and it was a blast skating in the Olympic stadium! I love hanging out with these girls and it was such a fun last outing in Torino!

Becca, Kathleen, Molly, Meghan, Amy, Jordan, Becky, Kaitlyn, me, Kristen



Olympic rings!

Tonight, we went to our favorite pizza place for the last time, Dual, in Piazza Carlo Alberto. It was bittersweet. I remember all the nights I would go with friends and we would sit outside and watch people in the piazza and love the magnificent architecture everywhere and listen to the accordion player standing in the middle of the grass.

Dual Pizza for the LAST time!


Later in the week, USAC hosted a Goodbye Reception at school. It was bittersweet walking through the park for the last time with Kaitlyn and Kathleen! Although sometimes Italian classes were tough, I wouldn't trade it for anything! All of the staff members were so sweet and I really enjoyed my experience going to school here (and also the 35 cent coffee machine!)

The park on the way to school.
In the plaza, almost to school.
Scuola di Amministrazione Aziendale (SAA) - School of Business Administration
Maddie, Maddie, Arielle and me at the Goodbye Gathering!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

l'ultimo fine settimana

I'm currently sitting in our kitchen and my roomies are making a delicious Sunday brunch and it just hit me that this is one of the last times we're all going to be together! SO SAD. I can't believe it's already our last weekend in Torino and how FAST time has flown by. I have such mixed feelings about leaving Italy on Thursday. SO sad to leave Torino and the amazing friends I've met here. But at the same time I'm so excited for Christmas and just being back in America. With all its glory of wifi, data plans, dryers, normal coffee, the English language, and California warmth. Our last weekend in Europe is coming to a close and I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend it. It was such a great time and bittersweet to be doing some things for the last time. The weekend involved lots of hanging out with friends and italian friends, skiing in the Italian alps, roommie bonding (they leave tomorrow and tuesday) and lots of snow! 

On Thursday, my roomies and I went with Brandi's Italian friends to apertivo at a place downtown. It was so fun to go with locals because we never would have found the place! Later that night I went out with some other friends and our Italian friends and while we were out, it started snowing! It was the first time it has snowed in Torino this season and the next day the city looked so beautiful!

Happy kids.

Torino and the snow!

On Friday night, our next-door neighbors hosted a dinner party with lots of Italian friends. Brandi and I went over early to help Diana cook and she made a true Italian meal complete with appetizers, spaghetti carbonara, eggplant parmigiana, and and even tiramisu. So many Italians in one place is always so fun.


This weekend I also bonded with my lovely roomies a lot over apertivo and trips to the open market and random adventures. Apertivo is one of my favorite Italian things and I'll miss our dinners a ton. The open market is also pretty awesome this time of year with Christmas decorations galore, on top of the millions of other things sold there.. things from fancy rugs to clothing and accessories to home-goods to fresh produce!





The flowers at the open market!

On Saturday I went to Bardonecchia, about an hour north of Torino, for a last minute ski-trip in the Italian alps! Maddie, Grace and I took the train up early in the morning and were picked up at the train station by our friend Arielle and her Italian friend Jake. We drove up to a small town in the mountains and since the ski season is just starting, we almost had the mountain to ourselves! Jake and his brother brought us some extra snow pants and googles, and I borrowed a jacket and gloves from some friends. Skiing all day was so incredible and since I was wearing basically all the clothes that I own, it wasn't that cold. :)



I hadn't skied in a few years but lucky got back into it pretty fast and had so much fun (and it was only slightly traumatic.) We starting going down slopes that were almost 90 degree angles (they might tell you this is an over exaggeration) and I tried not to appear too freaked out since the people I was with were PROS. I would literally stand at the top of every huge slope and take a few minutes to convince myself I wasn't going to die. Contrary to how it seemed at the time, I did end up surviving without any major damage done! I did wipe out a few times (oops).. once when I was turning too fast I flew off the side and into the trees and really deep snow. My skies flew off and it hurt but luckily some really nice (attractive) Italians rushed over and made a trail for me and then pulled me out. It was so embarrassing but hey, they were sweet and cute so it wasn't all bad. Such an amazing and exhausting day in the alps!




Maddie, Grace and I were so exhausted and we passed out on the train home and before we knew it, we were back by 9pm. I regained energy and went to dinner with my roomies and then to a club that was hosting a last-party type thing for all the university students studying abroad in Torino. There were so many Europeans and it was a great way to spend our last Saturday night in Europe. Going to miss hearing so many accents all the time!

Ci vediamo in quattro giorni, America!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

In case you find yourself in Italy..

Since I'm leaving Italy in a little over a week, these are some of my favorite (and not-so-favorite) things about the Italian lifestyle I never want to forget:

'Italian time' is a real thing. And that means everything runs about 8-10ish minutes behind schedule. If you're on time, you're actually a tinsy bit early, so good for you! Italians also LOVE to take naps (or not work at least) between the hours of 12pm-3pm every day. All shops will close, even banks. To make things even more convient, many small shops and cafes are open at the most random times and have no consistency whatsoever!

If you have a car, it better be a tiny one. Only the smallest cars survive in the Italian world of race-car driving styles. You'll need a small car to swerve around cars in traffic and around those pesky pedestrians who get in your way. This also leads us to..

Need a place to park? Try in between some trees. There are zero rules regarding parking. Park on any side of the street, facing any direction. If you can get in a space that is only one inch longer than your car, bonus points! No where to park? It's okay to squeeze your way onto the sidewalk and fit in between two trees.

Italians are very affectionate! They love to kiss, huge, embrace, touch, etc. Prepare yourself to see a ton of PDA everywhere, even on the metro at 10am. They are generally very enthusiastic and loud and friendly, too!

Are you a woman over age 16? Prepare to be hit on every 8 seconds. Whistles, waves, yelled remarks, cat calls, winks from old men.. you will get it all. This happens to. every. one. The first few times it happens you will laugh and blush, and be thinking, "Oh my gosh this is so funny!" Ten times later, you will be thinking, "I feel so flattered, but this is getting annoying." Four hundred times later, you will wanting to scream "LEAVE ME ALONE. WHY CAN'T I WALK DOWN THE STREET IN PEACE." You have two solutions: a) Stare at the ground, the sky, or just walk around looking very angry, and you will get minimal attention. b) Wink back, just to throw them off. (This was Natalie's ingenious idea.) Have fun!

Wearing yoga pants or shorts will get you a LOT of weird stares. Italians don't work out, haven't you heard? It's totally normal to eat carbs day and night and still be extremely thin and gorgeous! This is obviously why anyone wearing work-out attire on the tram to the park deserves to be stared at for long periods of time.

Italy isn't a parallel universe of perfection and beauty, contrary to what it looks like in movies. There's graffiti, traffic, dirty sidewalks and poorer areas of town. Not to mention it seems like almost everyone smokes. It's especially rough when you get stuck behind a mob of smokers on the sidewalk and no where to go.

Say goodbye to American comfort foods. Such as mac & cheese, peanut butter, salsa, avocados, coffee that is not an espresso shot, and chocolate chip cookies. And the convenience of having lots and lots of brand choices doesn't exist. Also, spagetti and meatballs is TOTALLY American.

If you hang out at an Italian guy's house, you might meet his parents. And not because your relationship is serious.. but because most young people live at home well into their 20's. Totally normal.

Be prepared for the fashion differences. You can spot guys wearing skinny jeans and dressing like they're in 90's boy bands, while girls can be seen rocking the mc hammer super-baggy pants or wedge sneaker heels.

Eating in Italy is an art, and is taken very seriously. If you make reservations at a restaurant for dinner, the table is yours for the evening. A waiter will never rush you, and will even encourage you to try dishes from their six different courses. It is also assumed you will eat the entire plate of food, or pizza, that you're given. (If you appear to be done eating, but have not finished every last bite of food, they will without hesitation ask you why you didn't like it.)

You will develop a sixth sense in recognizing the best gelato. In no time you will be able to tell, with a single glance, whether or not that gelato you walk past will be totally fantastic. Factors include the consistency, the design, the texture, the thickness, type of container, etc. Also, the phrase "posso assagiare.." (can I taste) will come in handy a LOT. ;)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Česká Republika

Maybe it was because I was there during the kickoff of the Christmas markets, or maybe because it was snowing and there were castles and it was magical, but Prague is a hidden gem and I feel so lucky to have spent my last trip in such a beautiful city!

On Thursday morning, I headed to the airport as usual by walking to the airport pick-up stop downtown. As soon as I left my apartment, I could tell something was going on.. tons of people were everywhere wearing red shirts and waving flags, yelling things, etc. After the airport bus was super delayed, all the Italians waiting with me began chatting with each other and looking really concerned. A British guy waiting too explained that the communist rally was blocking all the traffic. This was very concerning because a) I had no idea the communist party was popular (?!) and b) I was tight on time. Rob, the British guy, asked if I wanted to share a cab, so we headed off to track one down and ended up walking past the demonstrations.. tons of people and lots of yelling and police directing traffic. Crazy! I called a taxi because they were all in high demand but we were soon on our way to the airport. I found out Rob was living in Italy because he owned a few high-end men's clothing stores (I should have guessed by his suave attire) and he ended up being the most outgoing British guy I have ever met. He wouldn't even let me split the cab with him.. he just told me to have a drink on him in Prague. (This also reaffirmed I'm moving to England.)
I had a stop in Germany and on my flight there, Lufthansa brought around bags filled with German candies because it was December 6.. Saint Nicholas Day! I decided Lufthansa was my favorite airline of all time (that lasted for four days until they cancelled my flight home.. boo.)
I finally met Emily in Prague and we tracked down our hostel nestled in the heart of the city. (Which turned out to be the nicest hostel yet and was all-around great. Minus the fact we had accidentally chosen coed and had four guy roomies.. at least it made things entertaining.)

We were so excited to see the Christmas markets so we soon set off to find one, and our new friend Keegan (one of our guy roomies we had just met) joined us. We all finally tracked down the first Christmas market closest to us, and were in awe of the amazing twinkly lights, delicious foods being sold left and right, decorations in every nook, and holiday cheer abounding. We then made our way to the largest Christmas market in Prague, in Old Town Square. It was surreal! There were Czech music groups singing carols besides the most extensively decorated Christmas tree I've ever seen. There were rows and rows of booths in the square selling everything from ornaments, to hot wine (a super common thing to be sold at all the markets), to Trdelnik (my favorite treat.. a hot cinnamon-ish pastry made from dough and cooked fresh in front of you), and tons of trinkets!

At the first Christmas market.
Most beautiful Christmas markets ever!

  
Trdelnik & the tree!

On Friday, we planned on joining our hostel's free walking tour but a few minutes into it, the sole of Emily's boot totally broke off so we changed plans, successfully found her some new boots, and then ventured to Prague Castle. We decided to take the tram to get there, and about ten minutes into the tram we heard people raising their voices arguing with a man checking tickets. We hadn't validated our tickets because it's REALLY rare anyone ever checks tickets and before we knew it, the man was in front of us, showing us his badge, and demanding to see our tickets. Emily and I just glanced at each other and decided to improv. We gave him our tickets and kept pretending we had no idea we needed to validate them. Fortunately, a foreign family right next to us really DIDN'T know they needed to validate and since they could barely speak english, so we sort of joined in and pretended we had no idea what was going on too. I would say A+ acting skills for both of us. Unfortunately, this guy got REALLY mad and made us all get off at the next stop and told us we all owed the equivalent to 30 each in fines. Since there was no way that was happening, Emily and I kept refusing and fortunately the stop he made us get off at was the castle stop anyway.. so, we just gave him our unvalidated tickets and jetted off before he could arrest us or anything. Crisis averted!


The castle turned out to be less of a castle than we expected and was actually just pretty buildings, cathedrals, and cobblestone alleys dotted with eclectic shops. My favorite part was Golden Lane, a tiny street with colorful and quaint medieval houses-turned-shops. I had to duck to get in almost every doorway.. people must have been so short back then!

On our way to the Castle
The Cathedral
Cathedral and courtyard & Golden Lane

After exploring the castle and doing our best not to freeze to death, we stopped for a traditional czech lunch and then went back the hostel to throw on some more layers. One of the guys in our room kept making fun of me for wearing so many socks but lets be real, desperate times call for desperate measures. Emily and I then headed out for the night to meet up with Emily's sorority friends who are studying abroad in Prague, Lauren and Erin. I met them at Oktoberfest too so it was fun to see them again!

Real-life Disneyland
Emily, Erin, Lauren & myself

My rain boots failed and somehow absorbed water, so my socks were literally drenched and freezing all night. I just fought through the pain and kept thinking it couldn't be THAT cold anyway.. it had to all be psychological. Turns out, it was that cold. As in, 16° Fahrenheit. FGDAHKFDAS. I don't even feel bad about wearing five pairs of socks anymore. Brrr!


On Saturday, we went on the walking tour and actually made it through the three hour tour without wimping out from the cold! Our tour guide was a young American guy who just one day decided he wanted to live in Prague. He was really funny and kept us entertained as we walked all around the city and saw Old Town Square, the famous Astronomical clock, St. Vitus Cathedral, the Jewish Quarter, and Wenceslas Square. After our tour, we walked across a bridge to the John Lennon wall. We happened to be there on December 8, the anniversary of his death, so there were a lot of people visiting and a few people were playing the guitar and singing his songs. Amazing!


We walked back across the Charles bridge, a walking-only bridge that was built in the 1300's and is dotted with huge and intimidating statues. It was packed with tourists and people painting and playing music and was such a fun thing to see.

Charles Bridge

Freeeeeeeeezing!!

Once back in Old Town, we met up with Lauren and Erin again for dinner and happened to walk past the filming for some European crime show. We watched for awhile and got to see a scene being filmed & how it played out with the director, crew, actors, etc. If only we could have jumped in and been extras. We also saw the famous opera house where Mozart's Don Giovanni premiered in the late 1700's! Woo history.

The set!
Where Mozart premiered Don Giovanni

On Sunday after Emily left, I went to the top of Petrin hill and walked/climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower replica to see the view of the city. Walking up the stairs turned out to be a LOT more intimidating than it appeared but the view was definitely worth it. :)

From the top of the tower - the Charles Bridge

I then met up with my friends for lunch, Becky, Meghan and Kristen from Torino, who also happened to be in Prague this weekend. They went shopping while I stayed at the coffee shop to study for my operations management final the next day (boo) and by the time I left, I walked outside to see everything blanketed in snow! It was SURREAL. There was no one around and only fresh snow everywhere! Good thing I was wearing rain boots or that would have been a fail. I was literally ecstatic walking back to Old Town Square. The entire city felt magical and my favorite moment was when the Czech Christmas carolers were singing, and it was snowing, and there was so much happiness around. (Okay I just re-read that and sorry for the cheesy-ness.) I met up with the girls again for dinner and it was so much fun to run around in the snow! Soooo incredibly glad I was able to see snow while in Europe.

This basically captures the moment.. (you can't really tell but it was snowing!)




On Monday morning I was at the airport by 4:30am only to discover my flight was cancelled, and after three hours of standing in a line, I was able to change my flight and left for Paris at 10am. I had to change terminals in Paris via a shuttle, which was way too confusing, and barely made my connection 40 minutes later. I ended up missing my Italian class but luckily made it back in time for my operations management final. My roommies and some friends ended up going out to an amazing Italian dinner and grabbing gelato after to celebrate, which was a great ending to a day that started out pretty rough.


Hard to believe I have little over a week left until I'm back in America.. where does the time go!?! But I'm so excited to see everyone soon. :)