Adventures in Italy: The Last Chapter

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Stuart Cousin Adventure: Parte Due (II)

Buongiorno Tutti,

So, this week my two cousins, Maggie and Caroline, came to visit me in Rome! We had a ton of fun together. They arrived last Sunday and for a few days we just walked around Rome, and they did a few tours to see all the sites while I went to class. On Wednesday, we made a trip out to Napoli, which ended up being a little unexpected adventure ;)

The last time I went to Napoli (Naples), was with my school, and we went by bus, so I didn't really pay attention to where we were and how we got there. Thus, as we got off the train on Wednesday, I was all out of sorts, and to make matters worse, someone thought it would be a great idea to put the train station in the worst area of the city. So, that was not. cool. But, having the adventurous Stuart blood in us, we found our way out of an uncomfortable situation and into the main shopping/ristorante district.

After the, also unexpected, long train ride (3 hours), we were famished! So, we jumped into the first cafe we could find. Then, we just meandered around town, dodging beggers and garbage that lined the streets. (quick history lesson: Napoli went 4.5 months without any garbage pick-up....mafia issues- I don't ask! but, this issue is still being fixed so there's still a sanitation issue at hand) Anyways, eventually after a much needed gelato break, we stumbled into a nice bar/gelateria. Once the bartender realized I spoke Italian we became the objects of everyone's affection in this place. Three bartenders actually slide their numbers over to us with glasses of water to take us out that night! HAHA! Yeaaaaahhhh, not exactly sure that Napolitano's were on our agenda for that day. So, I gently told them that we would be leaving...immediately. From there, we just grabbed a few traditional Napoleon pizzas for the road. So, it wasn't the day we were expecting, but if nothing else, at least we got to enjoy some real, authentic pizza, famously originated in Napoli, Italia in 1780. (a little better than your neighborhood Pizza Hut)

On Thursday, it was a normal day as I headed to school and the girls went out shopping in Rome. Then on Friday, we took another day excursion out to Orvieto, Umbria (just north of Rome, Lazio) with Maggie's bf Lance (who is currently studying in Rome, as well). We had a lot of fun there. It really reminded me of Montepulciano, Pienza, and Siena. It had a very Tuscan-feel to it. We also really lucked with the weather, in both Orvieto and Napoli, meaning NO rain, which is a rarity in Italy right now. Orvieto was so pretty, all nestled up on a hill, like Montepulciano, and is known for its wine. So, we obviously had to have a few glasses to get the full feel of Orvieto ;)

Well, after a week, I'd say we really enjoyed ourselves. Despite the disappointing visit to Napoli, it's never a real Stuart vaca unless some sort of adventure is involved, so we really should have seen that one coming.. But, I'm so lucky that 3 of my cousins and 1 of my best friends has visited me (Maggie, Care, Hillary, and Jennie Ziringer) in Rome. Who knew I was so popular! haha! juuuust kiddin'...

So, two more weeks left of school then my parents arrive in Italy! Then, we're traveling all of Italia before my departure back to the homeland. Can't believe this chapter is almost over. Scary.. Sad.. But that's a WHOLE other post for another day :)

Well, enjoy your Sunday and I'll write to ya'll soon!

Arrivederci,

-Kate

Pronti? Mai.

Hey Friends,

So, my post today is a bit more somber than previous entries. The reason being that I had to say goodbye tonight to one of my best friends here in Rome. It's a long, complicated story, but my friend, Clementina, had to leave early from our program in Rome to head back to Venezuela, where she lives.

It's amazing how time has flown here. We were reminiscing at dinner tonight about all our memories here and how everything now is routine and common, whereas it definitely didn't start off that way.

I remember the first day of school like it was yesterday. I walked downstairs in our building and saw four people sitting at a table together, looking very shy and quiet. I sat next to a blonde girl, Isabella (who is now one of my closest friends here), and Clementina, Demetri, & JonCarlo. We asked each other normal questions, "how long are you here for?", "what level of Italian are you?", "are we in the same class?"...etc. I destinctly remember Clementina's response to 'how long are you here for?' because she said, "six months. But I know I won't last that long".

You see, Clemen is only 18. And in my mind, going to college is hard enough at that age. Imagine going across the world, to another country where you don't speak the language and having to live on your own. Not exactly the easiest thing to do at the volunerable age of 18. So, I understood as her homesickness was stronger than the others. However, it only made our bond stronger (between all of us girls, really) as we supported each other and leaned on one another when family and friends were time zones away.

Throughout the months, Clementina and I went on many of the school trips together (Siena, San Giovanni, Pompei, Napoli..), shared our passion for high-end fashion (which is, of course, dangerous in Rome ;), laughed about boys, cried about boys, had each others backs when people let us down, and had, not to mention, the four to seven hours of class together everyday. So, inevitably, we became really close friends.

Never in my life would I think that one of my best friends would reside in Venezuela. It's such an odd idea, but just another one of life's surprises. Never did I think that any of my close friends in life would be from any further than Canada. But, in fact, the hardest part about my experience here isn't the language, but meeting amazing people from all over the world, building the strongest of friendships, and then leaving them & having to keep such huge distances' between us for the rest of our lives.

The friendships here are unlike any I've experienced. It's like kindergarden, or first grade.. you all cry when your mom leaves you with these strange people, but then you look around the room and see that each person is feeling the same things you are and before you know it, you've formed some of the strongest bonds of friendship you'll ever know. And it's like that all over again, but this time you're aware it's happening, and especially aware that you won't be sharing the next 12 years with these people.

Despite the coming goodbyes, I am so grateful that I have met such amazing people here. And I'm very lucky that I still have another month and a half left to continue creating great memories. It's also taken me this experience of Clementina leaving early, to appreciate the moments shared, and savor the moments left.

So, Clementina, I will miss you beyond belief. But, it's not goodbye, it's see you later..

And as the wise Emily Dickinson once said,

"That is will never come again is what makes life so sweet."

Words to live by..

Buena Serata,

Kate

Athens, Santorini, Florence & Rome..

Ciao Amici,
Thought I'd bring you all up-to-date on my adventures here in Italia. I should first tell you that it's been so long since I've written because my laptop pooped out on me here :( Believe me, this was probably the biggest issue since I've lived in Europe. So, I apologize for the delay in writing. Luckily, by the great skills of the Geek Squad in good ol' USofA, I have my laptop back here and ready to take on the world. Well, world-wide-web, at least.
Alright, where to beginnnn...
About a month ago, my cousin, Hillary, and her friend, Kristen, came out to visit me in Roma for 2 weeks! They came all the way from Oklahoma and camped out on my floor like the troopers they are. However, we didn't stay in Italy the whole time they were here. Our first trip was to Athens, Greece!
It was pretty awesome. We met two ladies from Greece while waiting for our plane in Rome and we are sooo lucky we ran into them. They helped us figure out the airport in Athens and took the subway with us to our hostel. I don't know if we would have made it without them, as we didn't realize how difficult it was to get around the city. But, we made it! And stayed in a decent hostel called "Easy Access" LOL Despite the name, it actually was a pretty nice place. They had free internet and breakfast for $15 euro a night! pretty amazing. After only one night in Athens, we left to travel to the Greek islands. We aren't exactly the richest girls so we decided to choose just one. Kristen had always wanted to go to Santorini (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants island), so we chose that one.
After an 8 hour ferry ride (which we'll never do again), we arrived in a rainy, cold Santorini. Not exactly the best time to go island hopping. However, we made the best of it, and met some more extremely nice Grecians who helped us find a cheap, beautiful hostel right in the capital of Santorini, called Fira. *word of advice: keep in mind when looking on hostelworld.com that some hostels may not be open due to off-season schedules... yeah we didn't think far enough ahead lol which is why we needed a recommendation as to where to stay when we realized we'd be stranded*
Anyways, we had a great time, enjoying the food, people, and scenery in Santorini. We hiked a few days up and down the cliff-side of the island, which was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Absolutely unreal. (I'll post pix)
After 3 or 4 days in Santorini, we went back to Athens to tour the Parthenon and the rest of Acropolis. Once we left "Easy Access" for the last time, we headed back to Rome.
Hillary and Kristen wanted to tour more of Italy, so we went to Florence for a day and then they continued on to Venice, as I headed back to Rome for school. Florence was amazing. It was like a smaller Rome with beautiful landscapes surrounding it. The only thing with Florence was the insane amount of Americans there. I honestly heard more English than Italian while there. Kinda crazy. Although, we met some nice American grad students there who were traveling throughout Europe for 100 days to study architecture. Sounded amazing, and expensive! But, they were pretty cool kids.
Once Hillary and Kristen made it back to Rome, they toured the city more in depth and actually ran into our Florence friends at the Vatican! Such a coincidence. But very cool.
My moms good friend from home was also visiting in Rome while Hillary was here, so we got to meet up with her (shout out to Tricia ;) It was great getting to meet up and have dinner/wine with family friends from Pittsburgh.
But before I knew it, Hillary and Kristen were on their way home :(
I had an unforgettable time with them and hope to visit them this summer or fall in Oklahoma! It may not be Rome, but doesn't matter where you are when you have your friends :)
Now, I am getting ready to head off to Pompeii (Naples, Italy) on Saturday with my school for a day trip. Should be fun! Just hope the weather holds up. Italy has been super rainy here. It actually snowed for the first time in 25 years in Rome last week! I was excited I got to experience that while here. All the Brazilians and south american students from my class ran outside immediately to play in the snow, as they've never seen it before! So, that was extra cool to witness. The weather is starting to get better. Still rainy, but definitely more warm. It felt like spring today and I absolutley LOVED it! Nothing puts me in a better mood than great weather.
Well, I'm sure I'll have stories to tell about Pompeii and many pictures to share. So, stay tuned and I'll talk to you soon!
Love,
-Kate

Buon Natale!

Hey Friends, Family, Random Blog Stalkers ;)

Sorry it’s been like 10 years since I last blogged. It’s been crazzzzy busy with the holidays and school, etc. I’m sure most of you can relate. Anywho, thought I would bring you up-to-date on my adventures in Italy. Actually, this time some of my adventures take place in the good ol’ U.S. of A! Confused? Some of you should be..

It all began about a month ago when I realized all my friends in Rome would be going home for the holidays. Being that most of them are from Europe, this made sense for them to take their (unfairly short) 2-hour flights home for our winter break. Thinking about the fact that I would be all alone for Christmas and New Year’s made me doomed to be Ebenezer Scrooge in the upcoming weeks. Thus, my parents decided to help me out and send me home for the holidays :) I was sooo excited!! I thought the next time I would be stepping foot on my homeland would be another 4 months ahead of me! And, to add to the excitement, I decided to make it a surprise for all my friends and family. Pretty sneaky, huh?!? We’ll get back to this in a minute..

As the holidays neared in Rome with all the piazza markets open and street lights hung, one of my best friends from Pittsburgh, Jennie, came to visit me the week before we both headed back to the States. We had fun walking the streets of Roma, showing her the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Trastevere, Spanish Steps, etc, etc. One of the things I hadn’t seen, since my arrival in Rome, was the Vatican. So, she and I, and my Irish & Swedish friends, made a day visit to Vatican City. It was pretty amazing to see the Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel. All the history of the paintings was just unreal. Seeing Da Vinci paintings and Michelangelo’s ceiling- I feel like you could visit it 100 times and still have more to learn about the art. We were pretty lucky this particular day because we moved fairly easily through the museum, hearing that otherwise it’s normally wall-to-wall people and you’re typically just pushing your way through. Not sure why it wasn’t quite so crowded considering it was less than a week before Christmas and the streets of Rome were getting more and more claustrophobic by the minute! But, I guess we were just lucky.

After the tour of the Sistine Chapel and Vatican museum, Jennie and I decided we wanted to see the actual Vatican, itself. My other friends had seen it before so they said they’d meet up with us later that night and headed back into the city. Jennie and I waited patiently in line for about 45 minutes until we noticed that the line wasn’t even budging. I saw a few police officers monitoring the line so I went to ask them what was going on. From what I could understand, there was some sort of church mass going on and would be over shortly. As promised, the line began to move and as we reached the front a man asked us for our tickets. We didn’t know we needed to buy a ticket to get in so we just moved aside and asked where we could find a ticket booth. As we asked this, a generous young man offered two extra tickets to us. We were thrilled! So, we jumped back in line and headed into the Vatican. When we read what was on the ticket, it said something about the Pope and universities in Rome. We were sort of confused until a nice girl, around our age, from Nigeria told me that the Pope was going to be speaking to us about students in Roman Universities. So, long-story-short, we got to listen to the Pope speak for about 2 hours about how these students were going to have a big impact on the world, etc, etc. He could have been talking about why the grass was green and I would still be in awe of him. I mean, I GOT TO SEE THE POPE!! And not in a typical way either, which made it extra unique. I, of course, took many pictures of him (which will be posted later) and was happy to be able to understand him, for the most part. Definitely goes down as one of the best memories I’ll have in Rome :)

Jennie and I continued to have fun in Roma, going to the best pizzeria in Rome, right around the corner from my apartment in Trastevere, and eating at the best gelateria in all of Italy near the Pantheon. Then we walked all that food off by doing some damage shopping the streets of Via Del Corso, near the Spanish Steps. Before we knew it, it was nearing time to leave for Christmas.
We headed home on the 22nd, and after a relatively smooth flight, despite the ignorant woman next to me who flung a ravioli on my new winter coat, I arrived back in the States and was picked up by my friend, Sara. She’s the best. She drove all the way out to the airport to pick me up and help me surprise my friend Stephanie at her house. It was worth staying up ‘til 7am Rome time seeing Steph’s shocked & confused face as I stood on her doorstep. lol I continued to surprise people as the week progressed, and loved getting every reaction possible: screams, tears, pure shock -definitely the most entertaining moments of the entire trip back. I was so glad I got away with all the surprises and extremely happy to be sharing the holidays with all the people I loved.

After a too-short break, I headed home. :( I have to tell you the weirdest thing that happened on my trip back though..
During my flight en route to Rome, an [assumed] narcoleptic man fell next to my seat & was lying passed out in the aisle. After about 20 seconds, and some man slapping him on the face, he jumps right back up & asks if anyone was in the bathroom ..?? After my initial shock, that apparently no one else shared, I turn to the man across the aisle and whispered “oh my gosh!!!” whom responds with a shrug & continues to stare out the window. Now, I've either been watching too many Twilight Zone's or absolutely NOTHING affects Americans anymore.
Molto molto strano..

*phew*
Man! This was a long blog. Hope you didn’t fall asleep reading it- I think my hands did writing it! Anywho, my cousin Hillary comes to visit me this Thursday and we’re heading to GREECE on Friday!! I can’t wait!! I’ll have many stories to tell and lots of pictures to share.

Talk to you soon.
xx

Kate

Campo di Fiori

Ciao Tutti,
Well, I’m not even sure where to begin with this one.
Suppose I’ll start with Saturday night…

The girls (Mandy, Annemarijn, Isabella, Clementina) and I decided to have a fun night out after a REALLY long day of tours near the Colosseum (and yes these were finally in English, thank god). We wanted to go to a discoteca we’d heard of near the Campo di
Fiori so we headed that direction around 11pm. We found the club we were looking for and unfortunately it looked a little too expensive for our budgets so we ended up just going straight to the heart of the piazza in Campo di Fiori, itself.

Well.
I don’t think we were expecting the night that resulted from this decision.
First of all, if you’ve ever been to Campo di Fiori, you’ll know that it’s a HUGE hot spot for the young crowd. And when I say young, don’t forget that the drinking age is much less in Italy, so even high schoolers were gathering here :/ kinda weird.
So, we head into an inviting bar called “Sloppy Sam’s”. Everyone in the bar seemed to be either study abroad students or Italians who really wanted to get to know Americans, because nearly everyone was speaking English.
Anywho, we grabbed some drinks and headed back to the center of the piazza to enjoy the beautiful night. As we were walking to the statue in the center of the square, a bunch of teenage boys surrounded us and literally attacked us with desperation for us to KISS THEM. Hahahaha! Like are you kidding me? Completely disgusting. I was at least 5 years older than all of them so this was all a bit disturbing.
Some of the girls were amused with the attention, but Clementina and I were certainly NOT. So, we escaped back into the bar. The bartender was very sweet (sounded like he was from London) and got us some more drinks then Clementina and I headed back onto the patio of the bar to just chill out.

The rest starts to get a little blurry from here due to the alcohol consumption going on. However, the blurrier, the more entertaining, I say…

Before we knew it, the other girls had finally escaped the boys, Isabella returning with a rose in hand. lol Just too funny.
We sat talking for a bit. We had all found some “eye candy” in our vicinity so we sat just having some nice conversations when two Italian boys come up to us and one says something that basically translates to “there’s a party in my pants”. ! . How American of them. Then, the same Italian boy introduces himself as, none-other than, Chuck Bass. I can’t be fooled. I know this is the playboy character from Gossip Girl. I quickly tell him that that’s funny because my name happens to be Blair Waldorf! Funny coincidence…
Before any more harassing could ensue, two OTHER boys at a table next to us start yelling at them in Italian telling them to bugger off and leave us alone. These new Italian boys told us that most Italians are dirt, like that. The boy talking was named, Lucca. He didn’t look quite so Italian because he had dark blonde hair and blue eyes.
The other boy looked very Italian with deep brown eyes, black hair, and dark olive skin. He’s originally from Spain, I believe, but he’s lived in Rome most of his life. His name stays in the “blurry” category. I had him repeat it about 15 times and even asked, “Come se scrive?” Which is “how do you spell it?” And of course I still can’t even remember that. Something along the lines of Ignasio..?
Anyyyyyways. We chatted with them for a while. They were both 25, and studying in college. Lucca said he wants to leave Rome asap. He hates it here. He’s lived here his whole life and said he’s just ready for a change. I can respect that. He really wants to move to New York City, which I can REALLY respect.
Eventually, Clementina got tired around 1:30 and Annemarijn and Isabella walked her to a cab. Which meant Mandy and I were going to stay out with the two cute Romans(!!).
Lucca told us the thing that stinks about Rome is that all the bars close by 2am because fights break out a LOT. And it’s true. We witnessed a real messy one right near the next bar we ventured to. Since they’ve lived here most of the lives they knew some random pubs that stay open past the normal curfew. So, we headed out for another drink. Then, that bar quickly pushed us out after about a half-an-hour and we decided to call Annemarijn to see where they were.
We met up with them quickly and the 6 of us decided to stay out a bit longer. We walked for a while trying to find some open bars but everything seemed closed. Eventually, Lucca recommended we drive to another spot near their neck of the woods.

Now. Listen up. Normally, I would NEVER do this. Never in a million years would I get into a car with a random boy who said “oh hey I know of this place where I live…” that screams BAD. But, if I’m going to be honest, and I am, I’m in FLIPPING ROME PEOPLE. I’M 22!!! AND WITH TWO CUTE ITALIAN BOYS WHO WANT TO TAKE ME OUT FOR A DRINK. AND. AND. AND. THEY’RE TWO CUTE ITALIAN BOYS!!
*sigh*
So, we said yes.
However, if you know anything about Europe, you know the cars are teeny tiny. And if you think 6 people are going to fit into one car, you’re nuts. You’re lucky to fit 3. So, we split up. “Ignasio” picked Isabella and me up in his Smartcar, blarring “Come Together” by the Beatles because he said he remembered I liked their music. It was sweet. Isabella and I giggled the whole way there because we couldn’t believe we were in a car with an Italian boy.
Can’t imagine how I’ll react once I’m on a vespa ;) yeah. sure.
Eventually, after a crazy ride in our teeny Smartcar, we all we got to this quaint pub and continued to get to know each other, shared a margherita pizza, and finished off more drinks. Before we knew it, it was nearly 4 or 5am (set the clocks back an hour that night) and Ignasio was calling me a cab and soon I was staggering up the stairs of my apartment.

It was such a fun night and I really hope we get to hang out with Lucca and “Ignasio” again. Maybe next time I’ll have the right name in my blog lol.


Next up is a school trip to Montepulciano on Saturday, aka where they filmed New Moon in Tuscany. Yayyy!!! So, details on that are to come. Also to come, is my meeting with the screenwriter of the Twilight series, and all the Volturi cast members :)

So, as always, stay tuned..

Oh! And as a side note, I’d like to congratulate one of my best friends, Jenna Basso. She just performed at the Grand Ole Opry this past Thursday in Nashville, TN. She’s truly the most beautiful and talented country singer out there. Love you Jenna!!

xx
-Kate

Just Another Manic Lunedi

Buena Sera, Amici!

Come Stai? (see you guys can learn Italian too). How am I, you ask..? Well, I could be better. I managed to catch a really bad cold that consists of every symptom you can think of: sore throat, stuffy nose, runny nose, cough, congestion, never-ending sleepiness, loss of appetite and freezing cold 24/7. So much fun when you’re a million miles from home :( However, I am one of many in my classes that has this cold so at least I know I’m not allergic to Rome or anything ;)
Alas, this put a major damper on my weekend plans. I can’t even remember what I did Friday night, but Saturday I went to IKEA(!) and the largest mall in all of Europe, which just happens to be right outside of Rome. I went with my friends' Isabella (from Sweden) and Clementina (from Venezuela). We shopped ‘til we literally dropped and complained the whole bus ride back to our station how tired we were. At this point it was 7:30pm and we promised our friends Mandy and Annemarijn that we’d go to the discoteca that night. So, we had to put on a happy face and rush home to be ready to meet them BACK at the station by 9:30pm.*deep breath* So, I hurry through the fastest shower of life and jump on the bus and get to the termini to meet Mandy and Annemarijn to only get a text from Isabella that she and Clementina probably weren’t coming anymore. Ugh! I even showed up in heels! Which is quite gusty with all the cobblestone. Luckily Katie thought ahead and brought sandals ;)
Well, Mandy, Annemarijn, and I decided to head out anyways and I told Isabella to text me if they changed their minds. By the time we got to the bus stop near the Vatican, death was upon me. My nose was about to fall off and I had the chills beyond recovery (even in 60 degree weather). So, we decided to just head to a caffe in a nearby square. It was gorgeous. Actually it was one of the squares that was in Angels and Demons (the movie). I never saw the movie but Mandy is obsessed with Dan Brown so she knows all the spots. Lucky for her, she lives right near the Vatican so she sees stuff like this all day, every day. Anywho, we enjoyed some cappuccinos and hot ciccolate as I simultaneously died from the decreasing amount of tissues I had available. Then Mandy and Annemarijn decided to teach me some more Dutch. I didn't know that Dutch was the second hardest language to learn aside from Mandarin. Truly. This is a fact. I think it’s a beautiful language. It sounds like German but less harsh on the tongue. Kinda like German with a French twist. I duno, either way, I learned how to count in Dutch and say a few random words so that was fun. My nose also made some of the words impossible to pronounce so we had a good laugh over my incessant incapability to sound pretty when I speak another language.
However, after my nose made it apparent that he was running the show for the night, I decided to pick up a cab and head home to die at least in a semi-warm bed.
On Sunday, I ventured around my neck of the woods to find a supermarket and then laid in bed all day watching Friends episodes and When Harry Met Sally (best movie of all time).
Today, class was the same ol’ class. I went to try to see a movie with the other American, Jan, but the theatre was closed. Bummer. So, we’re gonna try another time.
Tomorrow, it’s time to visit the Colosseum!! Can’t wait. I had a sneak peek of it with Ursula on our first-day tour of Rome. But tomorrow will be the real deal, and in Italian too! It’ll be a long day with classes from 9-5pm but at least there’s time for fun afterwards :) Again, I promise pictures are sure to come. Probably this weekend.
Well, as always, I miss everyone and hope you’re enjoying the blogs. I’ll try to post at least once a week. Don’t forget if you ever want to email me I’d love to chat:
Kstuart2009@gmail.com

Love you all,
xx
-Kate

12 Days til Roma

Hey bloggers :)

Welcome to my new Blogsite! This site will strictly pertain to my adventures in Italy for the next 6 months. Follow me on here to read about everything I do, visit, and experience.

Oh, and for those who don't know, I am going to be enrolled in the Dilit International Language School in Rome, Italy to become fluent in Italian from October to April. I decided to embark on this journey in order to become more cultured and broaden my international knowledge :) So. Here I am, 12 days from my departure and I cannot wait!!!!

So, stay tuned for the real fun :)

Arrivederci Amici,
~Kate~