In Rome, we skip April showers.

Saturday, April 2

After beautiful weather during the first week of April, we decided it was time to hit the beach to get some color. Sperlonga is a town about an hour and a half south of Rome by train and known for its beautiful, sandy beaches. Sarah and I woke up early to go to the market to pick up some picnic food. We took sandwiches, fresh fruit and chips with us to enjoy a long day of just laying on the beach. The weather was unseasonably warm, so the beach was nice and quiet.

Although the water was too cold, we all went in for a dip to cool off from the burning sun. Forgetting that the sun is strongest in the spring, no wanted to buy sunscreen, which is upwards of 18 euro here. And yes, we all came home with sunburn.

April 7-10

Thank you Leslie for making sure I made it to Cinque Terre. The five towns nestled together along the northern Italian coast could not have made for a better vacation.

While in northern Italy, my friends and I decided to take a look at the leaning tower of Pisa on the way to Cinque Terre. The tower really is leaning. And it is pretty much the only sight the small town of Pisa has to offer...the square was crowded with tourists taking ridiculous pictures with the tower (my group included).

Cinque Terre is the exact opposite of Rome...but the two cities are each perfectly Italian. While Rome is chaos, Cinque Terre is calm. We stayed in a beautiful apartment in the center town, Corniglia, which is set high up in the cliffs and surrounded by a rocky coastline. After being in the town for only a few hours, the locals began to recognize us. Most tourists skip Corniglia when touring the five cities because to get into the city you need to walk up "hundreds of steps." Yes, for once my roommate Sarah's Rick Steve’s tour book was correct. Every time we wanted to go back into the town, we needed to convince ourselves that we could survive another exhausting climb. 

The view was worth it.

Day number two was full of views. We decided to hike between the three northern cites (Corniglia-Vernazza-Manarosso), which we were told would amount to about four or five hours total. The first hike was beautiful. The early morning air was so fresh and we were surrounded in new springtime greenery as we looked down to the waves crashing on the rocks far below.

Once in Vernazza, we treated ourselves to freshly squeezed orange juice and foccacia with pesto (Cinque Terre is famous for its pesto). After touring the city, we made our way towards our second hiking path. After finding that the main path was closed, we got directions to the alternate route. After four hours of hiking up and around three mountains, our tired, sweat-soaked bodies made it to Monterosso.

After another snack, a gelato and exploring the city for a little while, the only thing I could think clearly about was a nap and a shower! We took a train back to Corniglia and miraculously were able to climb the stairs into town for a siesta.

Day three we headed down south to the town of Manarola where we took the “Love Trail” to Riomaggiore. The trail was easy (thank goodness – my body felt the hike from the day before!) and beautiful. In Europe, couples in love will write their initials on a lock and then lock it to a bridge. This trail was covered in locks and all other symbols of affections: baby bibs, colored string, hair ties, and more. It was a beautiful way to end our trip.

still catching up....

Again, I’ve been all caught up in traveling, school and just enjoying the beauty that surrounds me in Roma ever day. Here is a quick wrap up of the rest of spring break (so long ago!) and a couple of explorations since then!

Lisbon (Spring Break, continued)

We spent our second day in Lisbon relaxing on one of their beautiful beaches. Of course, day trips rarely go as smoothly as planned. Our original beach plans were faltered when the train workers were on strike…Europeans love their strikes. Luckily one girl in my group was friends with a Portuguese girl who helped us get to a different beach via a ferry and then a bus.

The beach was beautiful and a well-deserved relaxing day!

Madrid, March 24-26

I see why Jillian has such great memories of Madrid – it is such an awesome city! With her helpful tips in hand, Carleigh and I took on the city!

First things first, we found Jill’s favorite restaurant in Madrid, Malaspina. There we shared a jarra of sangria and patatas bravas. So simple, so delicious.

From there, we met up with some more friends to see what Madrid’s notorious night life had to offer on a Thursday!

On Friday morning, we woke up to take advantage of the free walking tour of the city…in the rain. We made it to Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun), the Opera House and the Royal Palace. Compared to Rome, Madrid seemed like a very modern city. When it was time to find food again we stumbled upon another of Jill’s suggestions, 100 Montaditos where we each got a few mini-sandwiches. Not quite understanding what I ordered, I also was served an interesting lemonade-beer combination, which was actually really good!
After a siesta we took advantage of the free end-of-day entrance to Prado Museum before going to watch the futbol game a nearby pub.

By Saturday I was home-sick for Rome. After an early morning walk around Madrid’s botanical garden and the giant central park I had my last Spanish food (tortilla Espanola with brava sauce) and metroed back to the airport, home-bound to Rome!

Spring Break and Spring in Rome

Sitting in my apartment recovering from a long day at the beach, I realize how much I have to update you all on! I will tell you about the beach soon, but I have a month full of adventures since my trip to Florence leading up to this very relaxing day. Let's begin:

Saturday, March 5
Venezia Carnevale!

My roommates and I woke up at 5:30 A.M. to make our way to Termini Station where we met our Bus2Alps tour guides for our ride to Venice. Eight hours later we arrived to explore the city for the rest of the day.

We immediately went to the island of Burano, which is famous for its lace and colorful buildings. After exploring the tiny city we made our way back to the main island to join the Carnevale activities. After a day of island-hopping, snapping pictures of people dressed in amazing costumes and eating countless pastries in lieu of a real meal, we were exhausted and slept the whole 8-hour bus ride home.

I'm glad to report that my second trip to Venice proved much more enjoyable then my first visit. Being able to freely explore the city and the warmer weather definitely improved my opinion of the slowly-sinking city.

Tuesday, March 8
Festa della Donna and Mardi Gras

Italians know how to treat women. They tell you that you are beautiful, give you free things and even celebrate Women's Day. Italians celebrate this international holiday by making some museums free for women, selling special yellow flowers called mimosas, holding concerts and just treating each and every woman like a princess for the day. Walking to class over Ponte Sisto, I stopped to enjoy the decorations set out for us women.

Also on March 8th this year, it happened to be Mardi Gras. My roommates and I completed our celebratory day right by going dancing at one of Rome's biggest night clubs. It was also an excuse to get another wear of our Carnevale masks!

Thursday, March 17
150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy and St. Patrick's Day

As midnight stuck, the celebrations began. Rome celebrated Italy's 150th birthday, the Irishmen around Rome celebrated St. Patrick's Day, and spring break officially began for us John Cabot students (after an excruciating week of midterms).

For the special anniversary, Rome organized a midnight concert in Piazza Venezia and fireworks over the Coliseum. I was lucky enough to see both, although I think Italy could use a better party organizer, as the fireworks were not easily visible from the piazza where the concert was just minutes before the firework show began. It felt like 4th of July, but Italian style and without the barbecue.

It was nice to be with two other fellow Irish descendants for St. Patrick's Day. Between Alexis, Alyssa and I we made Irish soda bread and Shepherd's Pie, with a stop by the local Irish pub where we met some true Irishmen in between.

March 18-26
Spring Break!

Barcelona, March 18-22
I arrived in Barcelona to meet my best friend, Carleigh late on Friday night. Her Belgian cell phone does not work out of the country. After walking around for nearly an hour trying to find her at our agreed-upon meeting place, losing money to the airport's broken internet-connection point, and breaking a sweat I walked toward baggage claim hoping she was somewhere different. Upon exiting baggage claim, I immediately heard her boots clacking toward me. Finally! Spring break could begin! Who would have known that there are two Cafe di Fiori in Barcelona's airport?

We spent the next three days exploring all of what there was to see. I absolutely loved Barcelona. The city is a great mix of modern areas, historic parks, the beach and entertainment. My favorite place was definitely Park Guell, a huge park designed by the Spanish architect, Gaudi. I could have spent the whole day exploring the park and examining the mosaics that sparkled among the nature.

Barcelona's markets were also quite the sight. After getting freshly squeezed strawberry-coconut juice from the "Mercat," Barcelona's massive and picturesque fresh food market, it is hard to go back to any other juice. It was difficult to not buy everything in sight when walking down Las Ramblas toward the pier. The markets had everything from postcards to birds.

I was lucky enough to spend my 21st birthday in Barcelona as well! The weather was at its best...perfect for relaxing and taking a nap by the beach. Well rested, we made our way to "el Bosc de les Fades" or "Forest of the Fairies" which is a part of the wax museum. We entered the wax-created forest, complete with mushrooms, trees with faces and thunderstorms. I am happy to say that my birthday was a fairy tale.

Lisbon, March 22-24
Up and out of Barcelona by 7:30 A.M., we arrived in a chilly Lisbon in time to go on the free walking tour of the city at 10:30! As we wandered our way through the maze-like city built among the mountains, the weather warmed enough to convince us to buy summery sundresses from the flea market. As we climbed, the views became increasingly beautiful. The skyline of simple terracotta roofs intertwined with elaborate churches ending only at the coast of the Atlantic was stunning. Our tour led us to a café where we were had a traditional Portuguese lunch which included delicious house sangria, an entrée, dessert and coffee. Our entrée choices included steak, pork, fried fish cakes and a traditional Portuguese potato-cod-egg hash. I had the steak but tried the potato-cod dish which was very interesting! For dessert we had four traditional Portuguese recipes: flan, an orange-soaked sponge cake, a light egg custard drizzled with caramel and pear poached in wine. Obrigado! (“Thank you” is the only Portuguese word that I was able to pick up.)



There is much more to come, but that will have to wait until tomorrow! I’ve done my share plus some of procrastination tonight, from making dinner, baking banana bread and researching my next trip to Cinque Terre next weekend…Buona notte!