Bonjour from Nice, France! Our bus ride took ten hours but was definitely better than expected. We watched Shawshank Redemption, Dark Knight and a season of Friends. Matt and I were a team for euchre and played Tom and Ryan… we won, naturally. We stopped a few times for bathroom and food breaks but all in all it wasn’t too bad. We arrived at our hotel around 6 p.m. and hung out before heading to dinner at 8. I went out with Angela, Missy, Brittany and Kelsey to some restaurant and we had salad (yummy), steak (yummy), and dessert– coffee ice cream (yummy)! It was delicious! We walked a bit around tonight and then just chilled at the hotel. The staff here is really helpful and kind… they helped me set up my Internet connection! I’m heading to bed now… we have a 7a.m. wake up call so we can eat breakfast before we head out for the day. Tomorrow we’ll be at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival to experience life as a professional! It should be an opportunity of a lifetime… I’m stoked!
XOXO,
ALZ
French Word of the Day
Merci = Thank You
This weekend was by far the best time I’ve experienced in Italia thus far! Our trip to Cinque Terre (meaning “five cities”) began early Friday morning as we took the train to La Spezia. The hiking started right as we got off the train and into the first town. We actually stopped there to do some cliff jumping (a new favorite of [mostly] everyone who went on the trip). The first cliff was probably 30 feet from the water and my heart was beating so fast. When I got to the edge I didn’t think I could do it– I don’t ever remember feeling that nervous (even though Maeve and Natalie and Tom had already done it successfully). I had everyone count down from three and then I jumped. It was awesome! Probably one of the biggest rushes because, unlike a roller coaster, your destiny is completely up to you… if you don’t jump right (pencil dive) you will get hurt… some of the girls have the bruises and sore butts to prove it. After our time swimming and multiple jumps from the cliff we continued to the third and fourth towns before we took another swimming break. The fourth town, Vernazza, was the coolest. It had tons of small shops (Angela and I found some delicious pesto pizza), pizzerias, and gelaterias to look through; as well as rocks to lay on
an catch some rays. We took this time to cliff jump again, too! I jumped off this one three times, it was probably only 15 feet though. The waves were pretty rugged and knocked me into the rocks at the bottom of the cliff (where we had to walk up to get to the jumping areas) and cut up my knee and ankle. *Note* salt water on burns/cuts is an awful feeling. Around 5 p.m. some of us decided to make the journey to our last town by hiking… it took about an hour and a half to complete and the beginning of it was brutal. I thought Tom was trying to kill all of us! The uphill climbing was definitely worth it though once we got to one of the peaks and saw the cities… it was the most beautiful site I’ve ever seen. It looks like a life-size postcard. Breathtaking. We had a group dinner at a restaurant at the top of a mountain in Monterosso and it was pretty good. I tried some pasta (naturally) with mussels and clams! By the end of dinner most of us were dead from the long day but still had to stay awake for our 1:37 a.m. train ride back (home for some) to Napoli (Naples).
port and a ferry ride to Capri. The ferry ride went by quickly, we all napped on the hour trek. When we got to capri we immediately rented a boat that was ours for the next two hours. I drove (thanks Dad for always letting me drive… who would’ve thought our journeys up and down the St. Clair River would actually come in handy on the Mediterranean?!) and we got to see everything on Capri. The only downer to the day was the overcast skies and drizzles of rain that came and went as the day continued. We all loved Capri and wish we could go back on a nicer day. We took the ferry to Sorrento, where we were staying for the night, and to our surprise, had to take another bus to the train station and find a bus to take us to our hostel… which ended up being an hour away! The six of us (Maeve, Liz, Christina, Missy, Natalie and me) were delirious at this point and ready to just give up on life. By the time we arrived at our “hostel” and noticed it was a bungalow and that we’d pretty much be camping for the night we were dunzo. I thought I was going to have a meltdown because I honestly didn’t think I could take anymore that day. I was having anxiety issues like no other until dinner and we all chatted and ended up making the most of the night. It was one of the best nights I’ve had and really bonded with the girls. I’m so glad I’ve made some great friends from this trip! Sunday we had to catch the bus to take to the train station to make it back to Roma. Because we had tickets for the regional train we had to wait until 2:30 p.m. to actually leave, there weren’t any earlier trains departing from Napoli. We shopped in Sorrento and had a good time. That town is so cute and is definitely a place I’d like to visit again when I come back to Italia. Maeve and I had some good laughs on the train back to Roma and creeped on the other girls. I think she (Maeve) is my twin… we’re seriously so similar in nearly ever facet of life… I love her!
After the audience we had lunch (the best margarita pizza I’ve had thus far!) and got gelato with Tom. Our tour of the Vatican Museum began at 2 p.m. with Susan. She took us through many of the exhibits and thoroughly explained (per usual) the history of the Vatican, Catholic Church and Rome in general. Her tours are so insightful to the Rome that normal tour guides are not “trained” to talk about. I’m going to miss her stories after we leave the city… check out her blog, it’s pretty neat (www.eternallycool.net)! Our last stop at the museum was the Sistine Chapel. It was breathtaking. I don’t think I appreciated art until I saw this because it is just nuts to imagine that someone could create this masterpiece in four years. The walls and ceiling are covered from bottom to top in paintings done by Michelangelo. “The Touch” and “The Last Supper” were my favorite pieces because of their impact on the Christian world. His depictions were precise and accurate (in my mind). I’m so glad to say I’ve been there!
We concluded the long day by heading to Termini to pick up our train tickets for the weekend. We’re heading to Cinque Terre on Friday to hike the five towns and explore the nature side. And then on Saturday six of us girls are heading to Capri to enjoy another weekend on the Mediterranean. This weekend should be fun and exciting but I’m nervous at the same time because I can only pack what I absolutely need since we’ll be hiking all day Friday… if you know me, you darn well know I’m not a camper (thanks, Mom) and am obsessive about hygiene so this no shower, be one with nature thing should be a good experiment. They should make a reality show about this…wish me luck!
Last night the group went to the Ice Club Roma to experience Rome at 21 degrees! With friends bragging about their past experiences at Ice Club I knew I had to try it out for myself. With our cover charge we were given the silver capes and gloves to (attempt to) keep us warm during our time in the “ice cave.” The cool thing about Roma’s Ice Club is that there’s no time limit as to how long you can stay in but common sense tells you when to leave… a tip to anyone who plans on going, wear close-toed shoes. We all wore flip flops and the only cold part on my body was my toes. Capris and a tank top underneath was fine, though. We all had one drink at the bar. Everything was served in an ice glass (which Jess and I chose to chew after 🙂 KLo, I thought of you and how much you hate when I chew ice, but I had to :)). After we had enough there we went to Campo and hung out there for a bit. The night was a blast and I think everyone had a good time.
Another weekend in Italy has passed. We spent it in Tuscany (the region, not city :)). After we left Friday morning at 7 a.m. we headed to Trequanda, a small Tuscan city known for the wine. We went on a tour of the vineyard and entire estate. It was beautiful. The pictures don’t even begin to do it justice. The rolling hills, blue sky and small towns in the distance made it a postcard perfect picture. The wine tasting was cool, I have never experienced anything like it before. The wine they made was some of the best produced in all of Italy. They treated us to another four course Italian-style lunch (soup, pasta, chicken, potatoes, veggies and of course, dessert!). 
I went on a hike after that lunch (completely necessary after that carb-tastic lunch) to a small town just up the hill from the winery. We spoke with some locals and enjoyed a (never more delicious) Coca-Cola Light. Friday night was topped off with dinner at our hotel and a walk around Pisa.
probably never will. The shops in Florence were very cute; some boutiques, leather shops, touristy places for souvenirs and many cafes. The small, open-air markets lined the streets and welcomed in the visitors. I finished most of my souvenir purchasing in Florence; there were so many fun things to buy and I managed to stay under my budget! We went back to the hotel in Pisa after the long, hot day, and ate dinner. We sat on the boy’s rooftop terrace (unfair- they always get the nicest rooms, we don’t understand why) and hung out before heading to the main drag of Pisa. We people watched at the square and came back shortly thereafter because we knew tomorrow would be a long day.
Marco took us around the city, which we had already explored ourselves, on a more formal adventure. We, of course, took the Leaning Tower picture and got yelled at by the police because we weren’t supposed to be on the grass (guess we should have brushed up on our Italian a bit more before traveling- oops!). The streets of Pisa were lined with markets that morning too, similar to that of Florence the day before. We left midday to return to Roma. Movies, euchre and iPods made the four hour journey home move by extremely fast. As we all sit in the computer lab today we can’t believe that we’re already on week four of six. After this week we head to France for the Advertising Festival for five days then it’s almost like we’re home.
know it (bittersweet end I’m assuming). Nothing too exciting has happened with our group this week… we had class Tuesday and stayed up til 5 a.m. (Wednesday) morning to watch the Red Wings game. It was pretty cool because we were the only ones there minus some Spartans from John Cabot. The ending of the game was disappointing but there’s always tomorrow!!
ice!! It’s the little things in life that make me most happy! 🙂 Today was just another day of classes but after that was done we went to Del Corso to shop. I bought Brian & Chad a present– I think they’ll both like it! 🙂 And of course I found something for myself… a zebra print skirt (go figure) and two plain tanks! We’re heading to Tuscany tomorrow for the weekend… wine tasting, pasta making and tours of Pisa & Florence. Look for pictures to come on Sunday night. All of them have been added to Facebook so far, I’m in the process of adding them to Snapfish! Talk to everyone when I’m home from Tuscany on Sunday.
the time in class I’m definitely looking forward to this weekend in Tuscany. Everyone who has been there in the past told me how beautiful it is and that I’ll love it- I’m excited. Like I said last night, I lost all my pictures from Pompeii so I’m still in depression mode. I downloaded a program to find missing/lost files and it found nearly 20,000! One of the girls on our trip is going to take a look at my computer later this afternoon and see what she can do. My fingers are still crossed.
oops! It wasn’t awful but I was definitely sweating as I made it to the summit of the mountain. It wasn’t at all what I expected it to be; just a regular old mountain with tons of rocks and greenery growing all around it. I imagined it to be smoking with small lava bursts and bubbles making their way to the top… I was wrong. The entire way up small souvenir shops lined the trails waiting for “dumb Americans” to buy the original rocks and postcards from Vesuvius. All sarcasm aside, I’m proud to say I climbed a volcano 🙂
Big City Dreams 