Humboldt is a County?

Whenever anyone asks where I'm from, I just say Humboldt because I doubt they have ever heard of McKinleyville! As times goes on people just assume it's my town rather than the entire county. So this past weekend I http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifbrought Chris up to Humboldt with me for a wedding and when we passed the Humboldt county line I was so excited and he said we're there?! I had to explain to him that we still had anotherrrr hour to go! The drive up was actually not bad at all and we didn't even stop once! I asked Chris what he wanted to eat for lunch.."Meat!" This could only mean one place...Porter Street BBQ. Of course it was delicious! Later that night we went to dinner at my absolute favorite place...TOMO! We had dinner with two of my best friends and one of their boyfriends and the other one's husband (crazy!) It was a dinner full of laughter and I wish the night was longer! I was disgustingly full afterwards but was only in town for the weekend, so I had to get Bon Boniere! I asked for three small scoops and got a huge pile of ice cream in a waffle cone...which I had to scarf down on the way to the movies and we saw The Ugly Truth (I didn't like it but Chris loved it).


The next we cooked breakfast at home and then walked around Farmer's Market on the plaza...I'm sure Chris LOVED that! Then we got ready for the wedding! Erin was my cheerleading coach for two years in high school and we have kept friends ever since! The wedding was GORGEOUS..which was is an understatement. The yard is one of the prettiest I have ever seen and it was a lot of fun. It was nice to see girls from high school that I cheered with and I think Chris had fun out on the dance floor!








On Sunday we went to breakfast at Golden Harvest...delicious! On the way home Chris was so excited to see all the trees that he took lots of pictures haha

Roll Out

So the time has come...it's my last day in Roma!

Monday we had red wine tasting...that was an adventure! I usually don't like one but if my grade depends on it, I will like it! We had to swirl it, smell it and then swish it in my mouth for about 30 seconds. At the end of the night, we were all pretty gone and had purple teeth!

Tuesday we went to the Borghese Gallery which is an art gallery within these gorgeous gardens and a zoo! It was nice to finally see some green grass and trees! The gallery had some amazing statues by Bernini so that was really amazing to see. In the evening, we got our free Vespa rides! A vespa is like a scooter which is pretty much the European motorcycle and I want one really badly! We each got a 30 minute ride around Rome and Kendall (one of my friends) even got offered a night ride with dinner...we were a little creeped out, she obviously said no and then we stalked him on the computer and found out he is 41!! Oh Italian men....

Tuesday night we went to an ice bar! Everything was made out of ice, the glasses, the seats the walls...there was even an igloo inside! It was -5 Celsius so we had to wear these silver cloaks...so funny. It was honestly sooooo fun but of course freezing. We were waiting outside until our friends came outside and I guess we were being too loud because a neighbor threw water outside his window and it fell on me!

Wednesday we went to the 3rd holiest church in Rome...St. Paul's Outside the Walls. It is a GORGEOUS church and it is huge! There are pictures of all the popes around the walls and supposedly when they run out of room...thats the end of the world or something like that. Guess we will see! Later that night we went to an opera! The backdrop was the Baths of Caracalla (so basically some really old ruins). It was such a gorgeous backdrop and even though I couldnt understand what the opera was saying, it was still really fun to see.

Thursday we went to Castel St. Angelo and the best part of it was the view of St. Peters! I think yesterday was the HOTTEST day so far because we were all drenched from walking around downtown. We did our last bits of shopping and ate the best lunch! It was at a cute little family owned restaurant and I got Risotto al Salmone..yum! For dinner we had our end of the year BBQ! We all have a huge crush on our cook so it was a nice last meal from him! Everyone ate burgers so I just had some snacks and some wine..haha. It was pretty much our last night to party so we did another pub crawl...oh wow. All they had for unlimited our was cheap wine and beer, so I chose the wine! We went to 3 bars and danced all night but then we were too exhausted to go to the club so we walked our butts home. All in all it was a good night...but I gotta take it slow today haha.

Tomorrow I leave in the morning for London to catch my flight to JFK, stay the night there and then head back to SF on Sunday morning. I can't wait to see my family, friends and Chris when I get back!

Wednesday

Firenze

I just got back from my weekend in Florence and I had soooo much fun! There is tons of stuff to see there but we spent most of our time shopping in the outdoor market, bargaining our way to cheaper prices.

We left Friday afternoon and when we got to our hostel, some people swam and some went downtown to shop....I was in the shopping group! I really wanted to swim because I was covered in sweat but my money was burning a hole in my pocket so I had to spend some! The San Lorenzo market is this huge outdoor market with tons of booths with items like jewelry, leather bags, wallets, belts, tshirts and random stuff. It is really overwhelming at first because there are SO many booths and each vendor is talking to you to try and make you come to their booth. We mostly just walked through the market this day to see what they had and then met up with the rest of our group and had dinner at our hostel. We made last minute plans to stay at this hostel so we were all separated for the first night but I was with the girls I went to London with so that was fine. We just drank on the rooftop terrace bar for a little bit and slept early since we were exhausted and were getting up early.

Saturday we woke up early and stood in line to see the David sculpture by Michelangelo. The wait was about an hour long which was about the time amount we expected. Annie gets nose bleeds pretty often and she got one while we were in line and a few girls went with her to get some tissues at McDonalds down the street. We were getting close to the entrance so 2 girls went looking for them and they ended up not coming in with us cause they took her to the hospital! I guess her nose wouldnt stop bleeding so they had to put this little tube in her nose and inject it with some medicine (I assume something to make it clot.) We were all really nervous since we were in a foreign country, but she paid nothing and went back in the evening to remove the tube and they carterized (spelling?) her capillary. I dont know the details but hopefully she will be nose bleed free for a while!

We climbed the bell tower, all 414 steps, and had an amazing view of Florence! This is what I imagined Italy to look like! It was a little scary on the way down cause it was dark and people were coming up as we were trying to come down so it was a bit slower on the way down. Afterwards...more shopping!!! I bought two leather bags, some presents, two dresses, a tshirt, 4 little bracelets and I think thats it. Later we ate dinner at the hostel again and got ready for a night out on the town! We got flyers for this bar where you get 5 shots with £5..so that was our first stop! The shots were basically mini versions of mixed drinks (sex on the beach, kamikazees) so that was a pretty fun way to start the night. Some people in our program went to Florence last weekend and told us about this amazing club we had to go to...basically "free" entrance with a free drink and they give you this card that you cant lose, so then when you want to leave you give the guy your card and pay £10 (which is basically your entrance and drink fee) and then he gives you a receipt...if you lose this receipt on the way to the door...you have to pay £50!! Im not sure how that even works but we held on to our tickets so tightly that night! The club was called Central Park and it was this outdoor, enclosed bar with two dance floors, waterfall thingy and two bars. The guys at this place were not only ugly as heck, but disgusting! So forward and after about 10 minutes of it I just started pushing them once they got anywhere near me haha. We werent in the mood to deal with annoying Italian men so we just told everyone we only like girls so that kept them away for a little while. Later in the night we found some trannies and Jen danced with them...pretty hilarious. We took a taxi home and passed out around 3am...overall it was a really fun Saturday!

Today we had to check out by 10am..so we stored our stuff in the luggage room and went to find breakfast...which means pastries. We got some gelato afterwards and I think we all went to heaven...the best gelato in Florence! I love oatmeal cookies and this gelato tasted like Oatmeal Cookie Crunch from Ben and Jerrys! We then took the train to Pisa, walked all the way to the other side of town to see the leaning tower, took some really funny pictures for 15 minutes, and then had to taxi back to the train station to catch our train to Florence! Luckily our train to Florence was 4 hours long so we got to sleep a little! Overall it was a great weekend away and I cant believe I only have 5 days left in Italia!

Vatican Museum

Today was an AMAZING day...by far one of my favorites! We went to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. While we were waiting to meet our guide, we were sitting in the lobby area where a bunch of groups were waiting. This huge group from India in red baseball caps were quite creepy...the men kept staring at us, taking pictures and video taping us!! We said no photos but they didn't listen and supposedly they were taking pictures of the bathrooms...weird!

We then met our guide Leonardo...let's just say we all paid very close attention today and stayed right by his side (he was so cute!) We walked through most of the rooms in the Vatican Museum and it was amazing to see all the sculptures that are in books so close up!

We saw old tapestries, paintings, sculptures and just about everything else! Leonardo was so knowledgeable about everything and gave us little details that I'm sure most tour guides did not know. Later in the tour..he informed us that he was basically the first assistant to Pope John Paul XXIII!! He couldn't stop talking about how nice and generous the Pope was and how hard it was to see him sick with cancer and parkinsons. Supposedly when the Pope died...Leonardo was the one to dress him for his viewing! Even though Leonardo said it was such a hard thing to have to do since he was such a great friend to him, talk about an honor!! He also talked about waiting outside the Sistine Chapel for the conclave to end and it was only him and a few other guys that got to wait and he was the one who locked the doors! He didn't have many nice things to say about Pope Benedict but we all agree with him on that! After the tour I asked for a picture with him (thought of you Mom cause you told me to take pictures of Italian guys!) and then he asked about our studying in Rome...and then offered to take us on Vespa rides!! He gave us his email and we are totally going to take him up on that offer!

Today was one of my favorite days so far...the Vatican is truly an amazing place to visit. Everyone else went to Harry Potter tonight and just a few of us are left here at St. Stephens...I'm exhausted so I think I'm just going to call it a night in a little while...talk to you soon!

Mosquitos

I have always hated these stupid and pointless creatures! One summer during high school these little brats would come in my room at 4am, buzz in my year and force me to sleep downstairs on the couch...for 2 weeks straight! They would suck my precious blood out of me and be fat until the next night came..I havent had any bad experience with them until now....

I was warned about mosquitos in Rome before I came here but I didnt expect it to be this bad. Thankfully I dont hear their annoying buzz but I probably have about 20 bites on my legs and arms. I wake up in the morning with a new bite every day and I try really hard not to scratch them but some of them are impossible not to! After my nap today I woke up with little bumps all along my arm and I almost cried because I cant handle this crap any longer. Luckily mine arent as bad as some peoples...with puss oozing out or one looking like a second elbow.

Oh and supposedly next week its supposed to be about 40 Centigrade here....which I guess is around 100...but with HUMIDITY!! As you can probably tell...Im pretty home sick today and just want my free water and mexican food.

Oh and today for lunch I finally had someone other than Italian food...we were in the Jewish Ghetto and I had hummus and falafal! I asked for bread to go with my hummus and the menu said it was 1.50....well the bill came and it was 8 orders of bread for 12 euro total!! Wth....so that means one SLICE of bread was 1.50?!?! Wow...waste of money but it was a good lunch!

Tomorrow Im off to the Vatican Museums...so so so excited! Oh and if you read this...please comment cause Im getting lonely with no comments over here in Rome!

Capri

So the tour didnt quite go as planned but it was still amazing...

The van picked us up at our hostel and then dropped us off at the dock and then just told us to wait there for 10 minutes and someone would come get us. Well 20 minutes go by and still there is no one coming to find us...so immediately I think we got ripped off! Finally someone says "follow me" and it was time to get on the boat...luckily we had 11 people with us so we got the speed boat rather than the sail boat. The sail boat was much cuter but it looked super rocky and I might have puked on it! The boat ride was about an hour ride but it was beautiful cause the water was so blue and the little houses on the island were so cute. It was a bit choppy on the water but I just concentrated on the horizon and didnt feel sick...but a guy on our boat did and he puked twice on the way there!

Once we got there it was time to swim! We anchored the boat where supposedly everyone else did because there were about 15 boats where we were. On the way over to this little swim spot there were all the really rich huge boats...and one even had a helicopter on the back of it! The water was super duper salty but it was the perfect temperature and it was so much easier to float in. My roomie Annie doesnt know how to swim but she put a life vest on and had one of the boat drivers swim her over to the shore. The waves were pretty strong on the shore so I wanted to head back...and she did too. I tried to slowly walk her off cause we could touch and then was trying to show her how she can float since she has the life vest on. She freaked out and started flailing her arms and ended up shoving me under the water a good 5 times. I tried not to freak out and try to push away but I couldnt..luckily another girl was near us and she pried Annies arms off of me!! I felt like I was watching Rescue 911 or something...I was fine but it was really scary so I just sat in the boat for the rest of the trip.

Our lunch was fresh basil and mozzarella sandwiches - mine of course without tomatoes! It was probably the best sandwich I have ever had...and I need to find some good mozzarella when I get back to Cali! So we never actually ended up going on the actual island...our boat drivers said it was only a swimming tour and then we went to the grottoes. Our hostel said we would get 2-3 hours to explore on the island..and that was a complete lie! We were all pretty bummed about that but oh well...we got to see the grottoes!

Slacker

Ok I have been a horrible blogger this past week!! I will totally update it fully when I get back to Rome but here is a tiny little update...

Monday: St. Peters Basilica!!! It was the most gorgeous church ever and I bought a rosary to remember my Catholic roots haha. I will post pictures of it when I get back to Rome (Im in Sorrento!) We watched Angels and Demons the night before which is set in Rome so it was cool to see all the places in person, especially St. Peters. We climbed the billion steps to the very top of the dome where we got a beautiful view of Rome!!

Tuesday: We went to the first Christian church in Rome!! It was such an honor to be there and supposedly the heads of Peter and Paul are in these statues of them! Rumor or not...I want to believe it!

Wednesday: We took a very curvy bus ride down to Pompei! It was crazy that a lot of the town was still standing after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvias...especially the brothel! Rather than ordering from a supposed menu...there were pictures on the walls of different positions and the guys could just point to whichever picture they wanted to try...no thank you!! We stayed the night in Sorrento and it is an adorable town!! Rome is so urban and Sorrento had like a cute little downtown with lights and I felt like I was in a movie! By the way...Sorrento is south from Rome and its on the coast...so that means gorgeous water to look at!

Thursday: Boring 2 hour bus ride to the Greek Temples in Pasteum. It was great to be able to see the temples...but our guide was super boring and there were only three...but I took good pictures nonetheless. We only had 45 minutes to eat lunch before the bus was going to leave so we found this little pizzeria and ordered right away. It took like 25 minutes to get our food and then we had to literally scarf down our food! We called our teacher to let him know we would be late and then all of a sudden he found us at the restaurant with pizza all over our faces! We paid so fast and then ran to the bus...everyone was giving us crap but we were only 5 minutes late...get over it haha

Friday: TODAY! We got to our hostel since its our free weekend and this place is amazinggg!! If anyone is thinking of coming to Sorrento, Italy...stay at 7 Hostel!! It is like only 2 years old, it has free internet and a Nintendo Wi, bar, breakfast, roof terrace and nice rooms!! We went to find the beach today and the free beach had no sand...concrete! We put our towels down and then had sharp rocks poking through the entire time...but we just tried to grin and bear is since we were in Sorrento! I think I got a little darker, hopefully and even out my tan since I have a shorts and tanktop line! Then on the way back on the bus to the train station, Annie and I got hit on by these 17 year old Italian boys. It was very hard to communicate but it was a very good laugh: "You are beautiful, I love you, beautiful english, beautiful hat"....at least they werent shy! I guess I know where I get my forwardness from!! Thanks mom haha

Tomorrow we are going to Capri!!! Its 62 euro for the boat ride, lunch, drinks, cliff diving, snorkeling and a boatride to the grottos and private beaches!!! So so so excited....arrivaderci!!

Recap

So here is a little update of my past few days since I have been a slacker (and busy!)

Thursday: We went to Tarquinia to visit the Etruscan tombs. Lets just say these things are ancient! They are from the 4-9 century BC...hella old! We got to crawl underground, where it was either hotter or cooler, and look at the tombs they made. Some of them were preserevd very well and the colors on the walls were still vibrant where others had little left to see. There was a change in their attitude towards death, from them embracing it to being scared of it because demons started appearing on their tombs. It was a long bus ride but it was pretty fun.

Friday: Boring! Well the school part at least. When Mussolini was in power, he wanted to take Rome back to its roots and wanted to put back the old culture (use columns again and stuff like that.) We went to the Museum of Roman Civilization but it was mostly copies of the original statues we had already seen. The only cool thing was the models of the city. Ok well after the boring museum we went to this flea market, hoping to find some good deals! There is a reason why I never go to these in the states! Creepy people, dirty stuff and nothing worth buying. My friends but a few shirts but I didnt want to really search through all the crap. Then we relaxed and went to dinner. There was 8 of us and then Kendal (a girl here) had some friends coming to visit...so there were 16 of us! The place hated us and everyone in the restaurant loved to stare. It was musical chairs and then we had to write down our own orders rather than the waiter taking it himself. Once we put our order in, he came back to tell us that with the 16 of us, we had to decide on 4 pastas to choose from. This makes no sense because if we all came in as smaller parties, you wouldnt tell us that we cant order a certain pasta. Ugh so frustrating. Dinner was delicious by the way and when the bill came, they charged us for tap water and bread that we didnt ask for! Be thankful for all the free stuff in America people!

Saturday: Beach day!! We rode the train down to the beach...and had to walk 25 minutes past all the beaches you have to pay for in order to get to the free beach! There were lots of topless ladies, wrinkley tan ladies and way too many speedos. Once again, Indian men were trying to sell of cheap crap and I just had to yell no the entire day. The water was amazingly warm and refreshing but SALTY! I know its the sea but I think they dumped a few extra packets of salt in this one. We were all excited cause we thought it was the Mediterranean sea but once we got home this wasnt the case. I brought cheap towels from home with me so I can throw them away afterwards and so it was a little too small for the beach. Every way I tried to lay down I got sand all over my head or legs and the sand was HOT! Once we got home we got ready for the pub crawl! It was 4th of July and we had to celebrate, right? So it was 25 dollars and it got you....pizza, a shirt, unlimited drinks for the first hour, and 3 shots. I was pretty weary about it at first but where else can I do a pub crawl? haha I am used to my American mixed drinks so I had Sprite and Vodka...talk about original! The pizza was delicious, the dancing at the 2nd bar was super fun and the 3rd bar was lame. After the 3rd bar we cut out but it was a fun night and I can now proudly wear my shirt that says: I came, I saw, I crawled. haha