5-16-06

Yes, I am officially back in Kansas right now. I actually got back in on Saturday evening after hours upon hours of sitting on planes and sitting in airports. There are still a few things I need to put up on this site before I can move back into the main site. I'm in the process of finishing up the last of my video footage and uploading the rest of my pictures. So, hopefully, by the end of this week or the beginning of next week I'll have everything up from my semester abroad. At the moment, there are photos up from Cagliari for everyone to ooh and aah at. I was doing a lot of oohing and aahing myself... but that's partially due to a lot of sunburning.


5-9-06

Ok, this may be my very last post from Italy, I'm not sure yet. I may or may not have internet access in Cagliari and I don't know if the school will be open when I get back. So, yeah, I don't really actually have anything great to say at the moment, I'm sort of preoccupied with packing and cleaning and whatnot. I'll have something really deep to say when I'm back home and jetlag has been defeated.
Right now, I'm sitting in the library at JCU because it's pounding down rain outside. So, it looks like I may not be going to the Vatican today. Yes, St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel are indoors, but the line to get in is huge and outdoors. I've already been sick so many times during the semester that I don't really want to stand out in the rain for hours and possibly obtain yet another cold. I'm completely out of cold medicine too.
I'm hoping for better weather in Sardegna. I will be very upset if my last chance for a beach turns into a torrential downpour. I may end up going back to Kansas whiter than when I left!
Well, I guess this is it right now. I'm sorry that my potentially final post from Italy isn't more profound. But, expect some awesome stuff when I return to the States.


5-8-06

Happy Monday to everyone, though it's not so happy to me. Today, I have two finals, neither of which I'm overly excited about taking. This evening I will be saying goodbye to New Ian and Lindsey and I don't know if I'll ever see the them again.
Tomorrow evening I will be hopping on a plane to go to Cagliari in Sardegna. I will be there for two days and then I fly back to Rome for a full day of packing and cleaning... yippee!
I did manage to get to see the Colosseum on Saturday afternoon. I'm glad I waited for better weather because my pictures look great. I still have not gone inside the Vatican, I decided not to attempt it on a Sunday. I'm really not all that interested in seeing it, to be honest, it's more of a "Well, I'm here in Rome, I probably should go see it" kind of thing.
Ok, I need to freshen up my statistics before my exam starts. There are more pictures up from around Rome and the Colosseum. Also, the very last song from an Italian artist is up. Ciao!


5-6-06

Welcome to a special Saturday post. I am at JCU waiting to take my Italian final... on a Saturday. Tomorrow I have the day off and I will either be getting up early to go to the Vatican or go to the Colosseum. I might be able to do both, but I highly doubt it, the crowds here have gotten emense. I don't know how the Romans deal with it, although they do make a lot of money off of these people.
Monday I have my last two finals, statistics and Shakespeare. After that, I will be having a farewell dinner with New Ian and Lindsey, they will be leaving before I come back from Sardegna. Tuesday I will be going to whichever monument I don't see tomorrow and then I will be flying out to Cagliari for my last trip.
Time is speeding by and I'll be back in Kansas before anybody knows it. And, I'll be eating Burger King and drinking Pepsi! I have been very proud of myself, I have not succumb to any of the American fast food chains in Europe, there are more of them than you might think. It's mostly all McDonalds, with a Burger King or two scattered about. They had Subways and Pizza Huts in Germany and Austria. There were also Starbucks in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, but I wouldn't consider them to be fast food, just evil.
So, what other foods am I looking forward to eating when I return to the US? Well, there's BBQ. I'm not talking about grilling burgers in the backyard (which is what the Europeans think of when you mention BBQ). I'm talking about smoked brisket, ribs, baked beans and tater curl fries piled high to the sky! I am looking forward to eating Mexican again... I wish Lawrence still had an Amigos. I love the cheese here in Italy, but I do miss my good old cheddar and, of course, Velveeta. RANCH DRESSING!!!!! Prime rib and baked potatoes. And, last, but not least, mac & cheese.
But, I will also be missing the food here in Italy, most especially the freshness of the pasta. There are little stores here that you can go to, order whatever kind of pasta you want (including ravioli and tortellini with the filling of your choice), and they will make it right there in front of you. Then you just take it home, boil it for about a minute or two and then serve it with whatever sauce you like. I will miss the pizza here, sure we have pizza in the States, but it's not the same. Going to a Roman pizzeria is like going to Baskin Robbins, there are about 32 different choices and all you have to do is point. Speaking of ice cream, GELATO!!!! That will be one of the hardest things to leave behind. Blood orange juice and blood oranges. Fresh gnocchi, fresh prosciutto, fresh pancetta, fresh ricotta... fresh foods in general, very few things come prepackaged here. I will miss the wine, or, moreover, I will miss the price for good wine. I will miss the chocolate (although, I wouldn't mind a Hershey bar right now).
Ok, now I'm hungry, I hope you're happy. So, I am going to go to the little pizzeria around the corner and then I'm going to study for my Italian final. And you, you can watch the two new episodes I have put up. These will be the last two I will have for you to see until I get back. Pace!


5-4-04

Today is my last day of classes before finals, which is exciting and depressing at the same time. I can't wait for school to be over, but then I have to leave.
Ok, right now I have to run off to class and then I'm running off to see as much of Rome as I can. But, there are two fresh new episodes up for your viewing pleasure. Ciao!


5-3-06

I'm feeling better today, my throat is a tad bit raw, but other than that I seem to be ok. I have two days of classes before finals start... whoopie! Hopefully they won't be too bad.
I did manage to put up another episode, it may or may not be my last one before I come home... we'll see.
Sorry for the brief post, but I've got work to do!


5-2-06

Oh man, it's May, and I'm sick again! Yes, I spent four whole days in Sicily where it rained and rained and rained. I only brought one long sleeve shirt with me for my hike up Etna and I ended up having to wear it for the entire trip. But, it doesn't help keep you warm when it's soaking wet, so, my last day on the island I was full blown sick. I'm rather upset by the whole thing. This was supposed to be my relaxing basking in the sun trip before finals.
I did brave the ugly weather to do some sightseeing while I was there, I wasn't just going to sit in the hostel all day. On Thursday I hiked around the city of Catania. It was a fairly big city, but there wasn't a whole lot to do there... most people come for the beach *shakes fist angrily at the sky*.
On Friday I took a day trip down to Siracusa. I was tricked into thinking that the weather would be nice because the sky was completely clear when I left in the morning. It wasn't until I arrived in Syracuse that one could see the large storm looming in the distance. Of course, I was wearing a T-shirt at the time and after about two hours of sunshine, the storm hit with a vengence and rain drops the size of marbles pummelled the ancient streets and the unsuspecting tourists. I made a mad dash back to the train station (45 minute walk... 20 minute run) and caught a cold train back to Catania. When I returned to the hostel I changed into dry clothes, longer sleeves and went out to dinner with two Australians who I just met when I first walked into the room. Australians are awesome, by the way, they are truly some of the friendliest people you will ever meet.
The next day I attempted to go up to Mount Etna. I took a train to Giarre-Riposto where I got off to walk to another train station. There is a special train that actually circumnavigates the volcano and connects all of the little towns on the mountain (yes, people actually do live on the volcano... no, I don't know why). So, I took the little train up to the small town of Linguaglossa where I got off in the hopes of going further up the mountain. Unfortunately, I couldn't even see the mountain due to the clouds. So, I wandered around the town until the next train came by, which I took to another town called Randazzo. Randazzo was a cool little place. It's the closest town to the crater but it has never been destroyed by any of the eruptions. Its streets and some of its buildings are made out of lava stone, though. I got horribly lost while I was there, since the clouds covered up the mountains I lost my sense of direction. I somehow managed to find my way back to the station in time to catch the very last train around the rest of the mountain.
On Sunday, I was incredibly sick. My head hurt, my throat hurt and I had a fever. So, I asked around the hostel to see if anyone had any medicine since, of course, it was Sunday and all of the pharmacies were closed. Luckily someone had some of those tablets that you put into water and they fizz up magically... yes, it's magic. I choked down the fizzy drink and chased it with some pineapple juice, then I set out for a town called Taormina.
Taormina is a very touristy resort town on the top of a cliff. You have to take a train, then a bus and then a cable car to get there. Once you're up there, there are no cars, only foot traffic. The buildings were very cool and there was an ancient Greek Theater set on the edge of one of the cliffs. There was also a castle much further up, but it was hard enough for me to walk up the slight incline in the city, let alone climb up to another cliff. So, I was only in Taormina for about two hours or so, which was just as well since everything there was incredibly expensive and it was raining.
When I got back to the hostel I packed up my stuff and slept until the next morning when I had to catch my flight back to Rome. On the flight back I just happened to look out my window and see Etna, which I hadn't seen all weekend. So, that was rather cool, plus, it looks more impressive from the sky than when you're actually standing on it.
Last night my roommate and I pulled out our suitcases and began packing. We didn't want to have to deal with it during finals, so we started early. The suitcases are still out as a sort of a reality check that we are actually leaving in two weeks. But, as of right now, I don't want to talk about it. So, there are tons of new photos up from San Remo to Taormina and there is also a new tune up as well. I don't know if there will be any more videos available while I'm here, my schedule is looking quite frantic as I am trying to squeeze in the last minute touristy stuff that I haven't had a chance to do in Rome yet. But, rest assured, there will be more coming in the future, I just might be putting them up from The Lair.