Have you ever had a moment in your life when you just thought, there is too much information in my brain? I am thinking too much, and wondering too much and you kind of wish you could just turn it off? Well since you can't answer back, I'm going to assume, for my own sanity, that you said yes. Well up until yesterday for probably about seventy-two hours straight, that was my life. Now I'm not trying to complain, I'm not, because I know 99.9% of college kids have felt the exact same thing at one time or another. And do you want to know why, because here in Perugia, its FINALS week!!
And with two finals on Monday and one on Tuesday my study time was very much not my own this weekend and the beginning of this week. And on my last week in Perugia! In the words of Stephanie Tanner (yes I was a HUGE Full House fan when I was like ten) ... How Rude! So instead of fabulous European adventures full of new experiences and fun sights, this weekend, I saw the inside of the Umbra buildings and the four walls of my bedroom. Though again, I can't complain because I really did come here to go to school and learn. And I did! I learned a lot more than I thought that I did, so studying wasn't horribly difficult, just A LOT of information in NOT A LOT of time! And add that to packing, trying to enjoy my last week in Italy and thinking about going home and back to the US and my brain was just chock full of information. Like can't fall asleep/just want to stare at a wall/feel like your brain is going to explode in an instant kind of full of information. Well thats how I felt this week, and while it might not be as exciting as most of my weekly posts, or in any way as eloquent, its what this last week in Perugia has been like.
Though it hasn't been all bad. They finally lit the Christmas lights, and they're pumping Christmas music (American Christmas music) through loud speakers all over town. And Perugia is just glowing! This is the most adorably quaint Italian city ever created and it has been a blast seeing it go through the changing of the seasons and see the new preparations for the Christmas season. In the end, it has been the perfect place to study abroad I think and I could not imagine being absolutely anywhere else!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
I’ve had my run, Baby I'm Done, I gotta go home, Let me go Home
Well, its official, one week form today and I'll be making my way back to the US. And you know what? I can't tell which I am more, happy or sad. These past 3 months have been absolutely amazing. They have been even more unbelievable that I ever imagined, and I am one hundred percent positive that this is where I was supposed to be this fall. I have seen amazing things, made great friends and learned a lot about myself. And I wouldn't trade any of my experiences (even the not so pleasant ones) for anything in the world.
That all being said though, I cannot wait to get home. I spent this past summer living at home and spending practically every waking our with my best friends or some member of my family, and its really hard to just go cold turkey and not see any of them for months. Especially when this is the longest I've ever gone being away from any of them before. But I am happy to report that this (well the past few weeks) have been the first times I have felt homesick. I am quite impressed that I have managed to keep those feelings at bay for most of my time here. Quite an accomplishment in my book! So seeing as how there is only so much time left of my study abroad experience how about a lovely little list of all (er well most) of the things I'm going to miss about life in Perugia!
1. My friends especially my roommates who are probably the funnest craziest group of girls I've ever met and whom I've become ridiculously close to after such a short time.
2. The scenery - walking through these streets past adorably old and ornate Italian buildings and being able to glimpse the Italian countryside everyday, its going to be hard to give that up.
3. My professors! (yes I did in fact go to classes and learn things this semester!) But my Italian teacher is an awesome woman and my Food Cultures professor makes us laugh everyday - I'm going to miss them and their antics.
4. The food - everything is so unbelievably fresh and delicious here. And especially gelatto around every corner! (Why the US hasn't caught that trend yet, I'll never know)
5. Traveling and having adventures every weekend. Sure I can travel around the US, but how often can you just whisk away every weekend and end up in new and interesting countries? Not that often I'd say.
6. The people who work at the little grocery store around the corner from me who I see probably on a daily basis as there always seems to be something our apartment is out of.
7. My room. I have a single in my apartment, so I have a good amount of privacy, but I also have an extra bed in my room, so on any given night, I tend to have surprise roommates as my roommates have taken turns sleeping in this extra bed. (I have 5 roommates and I have managed to have them all as a roommate for at least one night, if not more). Also it has impossibly tall ceilings and beautiful exposed wood. And my window is right over an adorable little street.
8. Writing in this BLOG. Sure I can keep it up when I get home, but really who wants to read about things that aren't my European adventures? But I will say I've enjoyed writing it thus far. It's been a nice way to keep track of all my adventures here, but also I love that I get to "talk" to each of you who read it at least twice a week. I actually have no idea how many people read this thing, but I would like to say thank you for those that do. I can't imagine that my posts have always been exciting or interesting, but thanks for coming back and reading it anyway! It's been fun. :) Though don't get too sad yet, this isn't the last one. I've still got at least two more posts I'm required to make!
That all being said though, I cannot wait to get home. I spent this past summer living at home and spending practically every waking our with my best friends or some member of my family, and its really hard to just go cold turkey and not see any of them for months. Especially when this is the longest I've ever gone being away from any of them before. But I am happy to report that this (well the past few weeks) have been the first times I have felt homesick. I am quite impressed that I have managed to keep those feelings at bay for most of my time here. Quite an accomplishment in my book! So seeing as how there is only so much time left of my study abroad experience how about a lovely little list of all (er well most) of the things I'm going to miss about life in Perugia!
1. My friends especially my roommates who are probably the funnest craziest group of girls I've ever met and whom I've become ridiculously close to after such a short time.
2. The scenery - walking through these streets past adorably old and ornate Italian buildings and being able to glimpse the Italian countryside everyday, its going to be hard to give that up.
3. My professors! (yes I did in fact go to classes and learn things this semester!) But my Italian teacher is an awesome woman and my Food Cultures professor makes us laugh everyday - I'm going to miss them and their antics.
4. The food - everything is so unbelievably fresh and delicious here. And especially gelatto around every corner! (Why the US hasn't caught that trend yet, I'll never know)
5. Traveling and having adventures every weekend. Sure I can travel around the US, but how often can you just whisk away every weekend and end up in new and interesting countries? Not that often I'd say.
6. The people who work at the little grocery store around the corner from me who I see probably on a daily basis as there always seems to be something our apartment is out of.
7. My room. I have a single in my apartment, so I have a good amount of privacy, but I also have an extra bed in my room, so on any given night, I tend to have surprise roommates as my roommates have taken turns sleeping in this extra bed. (I have 5 roommates and I have managed to have them all as a roommate for at least one night, if not more). Also it has impossibly tall ceilings and beautiful exposed wood. And my window is right over an adorable little street.
8. Writing in this BLOG. Sure I can keep it up when I get home, but really who wants to read about things that aren't my European adventures? But I will say I've enjoyed writing it thus far. It's been a nice way to keep track of all my adventures here, but also I love that I get to "talk" to each of you who read it at least twice a week. I actually have no idea how many people read this thing, but I would like to say thank you for those that do. I can't imagine that my posts have always been exciting or interesting, but thanks for coming back and reading it anyway! It's been fun. :) Though don't get too sad yet, this isn't the last one. I've still got at least two more posts I'm required to make!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Where's my happy Ending?
Now I know what you're thinking after that title, silly Brittany, there's no way you can unhappy, you're in Italy having an amazing adventure full of new and exciting things. And it's true, I am, and I'm having a fabulous time doing it ... but honestly, if there is one thing that Italy is missing - it's someone to be in love with! This is probably the most romantic and adorable place I've ever been, and not having a special someone to share it with, not so fantastic. True, I have my girlfriends and all of the new friends I've made here, but Europeans are simply the most romantic people I've ever met! And this weekend, in Venice, I realized that as never before!
Venice is beautiful! It's probably my favorite city in Italy, second maybe only to Perugia, because its where I live. But Venice is unbelievable! It is literally like something out of a movie, a mix between Pirates of the Carribean and Peter Pan. You can be told that there is water where streets should and boats where cars should be, but until you see it in person, theres no way to understand it. It is the coolest place I think I've ever seen. And while its a pretty large place, its pretty impossible to get lost. Jess and I got off the train and headed straight for the Piazza San Marco, or so we thought. Because really, there is no straight streets from one place to the other. It is literally a maze of backroads and winding alleyways, all very safe, just a little confusing. I think we took some wrong turns somewhere and eventually had to buy a map. After of course accidentally bumping into the Realto bridge. We took pictures, not realizing that that was exactly what we had found, and later came upon it again only to realize that we had in fact just bumped into the famous Realto bridge! We eventually made our way to St.Mark's Square, a really cool open square surrouned on three sides with short rows of buildings and loggia (rows of arches that extend past a buildings fascade to create a covered walkway) and on the third side with the St.Mark's Cathedral. Which is probably the most beautiful cathedral fascade I've ever seen. It has three arches, one large one flanked by two smaller ones and they are so ornately decorated, each top of the arch full of a gorgeously colored fresco. And many tiny flecks of gold mosaic looking peices. This probably isn't even an accurate description, but its all I can manage to put into words at this point. And the inside is just as incredible. The ceiling is literally covered in this gold flaked mosaic. And the Cathedral is huge! It was one of the biggest, most ornately decorated (as far ceilings go) cathedral that I've seen.
Before heading inside the church though, we climbed the bell tower next to the Cathedral - and again I say, if you ever come to Italy, climb the bell towers, they'll give you the best views you can get. And the views from this bell tower, did not disappoint! The water surrounding Venice stretched out for miles, and you could see the city for what it actually was, and island. It was phenomenal. Especially when, much to out surprise, the bells started chiming! And chiming is probably not the most accurate description as chime denotes a small, tiny noise and this was anything but tiny. These massive bells were swaying almost violently back and forth clanging and banging marking off the hour (it had just turned 2 o'clock) and it was awesome to be in the tower while this happened (even though my hearing might be worse for it!).
That night, we ate the typical Venice meal of fresh seafood and did some touristy souvenir shopping and picked up some beautiful Murano glass pieces (something that Venice is famous for).
The next day we wandered more around the city, hopping on and off, the vapporetto which is the public transportation there, and in fact is a ferry boat, not the usual bus or train. But even in our wanderings and stumbling into various beautiful squares and churches, we never got lost. Venice isn't a small place, but once you get inside the little back streets, which are more like walkways than streets since they are sans cars, you literally just walk in circles until you're right back where you started. And usually, that means you get back to the Grande Canal. Which is the main "street" in Venice and probably the most well known, as it houses the Realto and begins near the Piazza San Marco. And it was this interesting color blue. Not necessarily crystal clear, but sort of a hazy aqua color, quite pretty.
Venice (Venizia in Italia) is a gorgeous gorgeous city, full of the smell of ocean, beautiful glas sculptures and gondolas as far as the eye can see. But it is such a romantic spot, going without that special someone tends to feel a bit like you were cheated. So my suggestion, if you ever go, go with someone you love, or unfortunately, you might leave feeling like you missed out on some of Venice's charm.
Venice is beautiful! It's probably my favorite city in Italy, second maybe only to Perugia, because its where I live. But Venice is unbelievable! It is literally like something out of a movie, a mix between Pirates of the Carribean and Peter Pan. You can be told that there is water where streets should and boats where cars should be, but until you see it in person, theres no way to understand it. It is the coolest place I think I've ever seen. And while its a pretty large place, its pretty impossible to get lost. Jess and I got off the train and headed straight for the Piazza San Marco, or so we thought. Because really, there is no straight streets from one place to the other. It is literally a maze of backroads and winding alleyways, all very safe, just a little confusing. I think we took some wrong turns somewhere and eventually had to buy a map. After of course accidentally bumping into the Realto bridge. We took pictures, not realizing that that was exactly what we had found, and later came upon it again only to realize that we had in fact just bumped into the famous Realto bridge! We eventually made our way to St.Mark's Square, a really cool open square surrouned on three sides with short rows of buildings and loggia (rows of arches that extend past a buildings fascade to create a covered walkway) and on the third side with the St.Mark's Cathedral. Which is probably the most beautiful cathedral fascade I've ever seen. It has three arches, one large one flanked by two smaller ones and they are so ornately decorated, each top of the arch full of a gorgeously colored fresco. And many tiny flecks of gold mosaic looking peices. This probably isn't even an accurate description, but its all I can manage to put into words at this point. And the inside is just as incredible. The ceiling is literally covered in this gold flaked mosaic. And the Cathedral is huge! It was one of the biggest, most ornately decorated (as far ceilings go) cathedral that I've seen.
Before heading inside the church though, we climbed the bell tower next to the Cathedral - and again I say, if you ever come to Italy, climb the bell towers, they'll give you the best views you can get. And the views from this bell tower, did not disappoint! The water surrounding Venice stretched out for miles, and you could see the city for what it actually was, and island. It was phenomenal. Especially when, much to out surprise, the bells started chiming! And chiming is probably not the most accurate description as chime denotes a small, tiny noise and this was anything but tiny. These massive bells were swaying almost violently back and forth clanging and banging marking off the hour (it had just turned 2 o'clock) and it was awesome to be in the tower while this happened (even though my hearing might be worse for it!).
That night, we ate the typical Venice meal of fresh seafood and did some touristy souvenir shopping and picked up some beautiful Murano glass pieces (something that Venice is famous for).
The next day we wandered more around the city, hopping on and off, the vapporetto which is the public transportation there, and in fact is a ferry boat, not the usual bus or train. But even in our wanderings and stumbling into various beautiful squares and churches, we never got lost. Venice isn't a small place, but once you get inside the little back streets, which are more like walkways than streets since they are sans cars, you literally just walk in circles until you're right back where you started. And usually, that means you get back to the Grande Canal. Which is the main "street" in Venice and probably the most well known, as it houses the Realto and begins near the Piazza San Marco. And it was this interesting color blue. Not necessarily crystal clear, but sort of a hazy aqua color, quite pretty.
Venice (Venizia in Italia) is a gorgeous gorgeous city, full of the smell of ocean, beautiful glas sculptures and gondolas as far as the eye can see. But it is such a romantic spot, going without that special someone tends to feel a bit like you were cheated. So my suggestion, if you ever go, go with someone you love, or unfortunately, you might leave feeling like you missed out on some of Venice's charm.
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