Italy...the not so good.

After an amazing time in Florence we were apprehensive about Rome. Could it live up to the fun and food we had in Florence? In a nutshell, not at all. We arrived in Rome and immediately noticed all the graffiti and filth that Rome had. We didn't want to judge it too quickly, but so far we were not impressed. I had a terrible headache that lasted all day and could not find any advil because everything had closed by the time we got into Rome. I was hungry, tired, and did not feel well, so bad start for Rome. We managed to find a cute place to eat in town, but our hotel was a little further out of town than we would have liked. It was right next to the metro, but it was a 20 minute ride, and I just wasn't feeling it. But the next day was got even better. We had heard to take a tour of the Vatican city because it lasted 4 hours and they told you things you didn't know. So we were suckered into paying 40 euro and our expectations were high. Well it took an hour for them to give us our headsets, and sort out the money and take us wait to get into the museum and sort out the tickets. Then we began the tour and it started out pretty well, he told us all about the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It was a great story, but that is absolutely all I got out of it. Fifteen minutes later, I got lost in the Vatican City. Now i know you are asking yourself "how did that happen?" Well I'm glad you've asked. There were about 2,093,230,476 people in the Vatican Museum that day, as it was the day before Easter. Our tour guide was about 5'3" and we came to this part in the museum where you had to walk around this large basin. So you followed a stream of people and I had stopped for a second to take a picture. I assumed (never ever assume) my group had moved ahead. So i proceeded to walk quickly though the museum all the while texting Tom where he was. He said "Red marble boxes, my phone is about to run out of money." I had no idea where the red marble boxes were so I assumed they were still ahead of me somewhere. Again, Tom wasn't the best traveler because he had forgotten to top-up his phone. Annelise's phone had died, so needless to say this was going to be a tricky situation. I had realized i passed them. So I sat myself down outside the Sistine Chapel and sat. Ironically enough, I sat right next to the thinker. For 2 hours. I watched him think, as I thought to myself, Rome=fail. Two hours. Then I got a text saying "we're about to go into the cathedral where are you?" To which I replied "I am right by the thinker where I told you I was 2 hours ago. Have you been to the Sistine yet?" Well he texts back with this "Last text, meet us where we started this morning. This is my last text." Um, where we started? We started this thing many places...at the cafe? Where we met our tour guide? Where we started the tour? Which one of the 12 places are you referring to? So I decided to look where we started the tour. I told them (he could receive texts) that i was at the top of the escalators. Half hour later, no luck. The guard told me I had to leave that the museum was closing. So I thought to myself, how can I get money on Tom's phone? So I called Tom's roommate Martin (German guy really nice) and he picked up the phone in such a cheerful way saying "Hi Christine!" To which I almost cried, "Martin, I need help, I'm lost in the Vatican city, Tom has no money on his phone and I am getting kicked out of the museum. Can you pretty pretty please put money on his phone?" He sweetly obliged and I promised I would buy him a beer. I am basically brilliant though because I figured a way out...after I got lost and wasted 4 hours of my life sitting around...but let's skip over that. I finally found Annelise and Tom and we again turned to alcohol to get us through the night. The next day was actually okay, we toured the obvious colosseum, spanish steps and other hot spots. Ate lots of pasta and laughed at how much of a joke Rome had been. Oh and the next day, the day we left, our plane got delayed. Two and a half hours. Thanks Ryanair!

Italy...the good times

So for spring break Annelise and I packed out bags and headed for the sunny sights of ltaly. Annelise and I, along with another guy Tom, headed to Florence to visit my friend Lizzie who was studying there. We flew into Piza and took a train to Florence. Landing in Pisa was a little bit of a cultural shock. It was the first time people didn’t speak English as my the first language, and more importantly, it was hot and sunny. We had a little difficulty figuring out how to get from Pisa to Florence. We were told to take a train from the airport to Florence, but um there was none that we could find. We went up the window and asked the man how to get to Florence. He said sure, two tickets to Firenze. To which we replied no we need to get to Florence. Right, Firenze, 12 euro please. We coughed up the money even though we had no idea what was going on. We asked where to go and he simply pointed to the other side of th airport and said “ok ciao ciao.” I tried to ask what time the train left but he simply said, “ciao, ciao!” and beckoned the next person forward. We eventually made it onto the train and into Florence. Total time of travel: 9 hours. Total time of loving to travel: none. Once into Florence Lizzie met us at the train station. And walked us to her beautiful apartment. Seriously, beautiful. She lived right next to this famous bridge called the Pont de Vecchio. There wasn’t enough room for Tom to stay in Lizzie’s flat so he had to stay at a hostel. Now most people would write down their hostel information…well Tom did not, no number, address or directions…Tom wasn’t the most travel savvy person as Annelise and I learned through out the trip. But we figured it out and all went to bed. Our first day in Florence Lizzie showed us all around. We saw the Duomo, the U’Fitzi, and ate lots and lots of gelato, yum. Italy wins hands down for the best food (and wine…) We walked around and shopped. And shopped. Italy has these really fun markets where they sell everything from clothes and jewelry to disco balls. I know…who buys disco balls in 2009? I ended up falling in love with a leather bag at one stand and bought it as an early birthday present to myself…among lots of other early birthday presents. Annelise and I would often go shopping and invite Tom along, to which he kindly refused and Annelise and I were able to spend quality girl time together. We went to this one café which looked really cute. We couldn’t really understand the menu so I just ordered a lemonade and Annelise ordered a coffee. When we got the bill, we saw the total was 14.50 euro. I kindly told the waiter this wasn’t our bill, but oh yes it was. My lemonade was 6.50, Annelise’s coffee was 4.00 and the chager to sit in? 4 euro. So yep my lemonade was 8.50….that’s like 11 dollars for a lemonade, and it wasn’t even alcoholic! What is that?? Besides that we had few hitches in Florence. When we decided to go to Venice, we bought tickets for 37 euro (one way) and the ticket saleswoman said there was standing room only left. Great. 45 dollars to stand/sit on the floor for 3 hours…sweet. But Venice turned out to be worth it. It was gorgeous with the rivers and boats and little streets. There wasn’t much to see there but it was just a cool place to be. We wandered around, ate pizza and basked in the sun. That night we decided to go to a really cool bar that had a Beatles cover band playing. We had a lot of fun bopping to the music and singing along with our obnoxious American accents. However, we stayed out late and paid for it the next morning when we went to Sienna and did not really feel up to walking the many hills Sienna had to offer. We had this map which showed us cool places to visit. So we followed the recommended roads on sort of a trail and at one point the map told us to go down this hill. When I say hill I mean shear cliff, or so it seemed after 4 hours of sleep and a minor hangover. Annelise turned to me halfway down the hill and said, “I feel like we are going to have to go up this steep incline when we get to the next road.” Little surprise, she was right. Although going up, I swear it was twice as steep. Note to self: do not go down a large incline road, simply say no. When we go to the site it was closed. Of course. It was a church and it was not even that cool. Awesome. After Sienna we only had one more day in Italy, which we spent going to the U’Fitzi. It seemed like a good idea to be all cultured. Now for what reason I thought I would enjoy a museum is lost on me but we decided to give it a try. Well we stood in line for two and a half hours. No joke. And once we got inside we really had no idea what we were looking at. All that seemed to be there was marble statues with lots of male genitalia, and the same religious art over and over again. So Annelise made it through that museum in about 35 minutes. We were laughing the whole way through questioning what in heck we were thinking. Needless to say we grabbed some 1 euro boxed wine on the way home to try to erase the memory of the wasted day. We did love Florence though, it was a very cute town with lots to do (okay mostly shopping) and great food, but it was time to go to Rome. We had been in Florence for about a week, and although we were excited for Rome, we sort of wanted to stay in Florence or go back to Scotland. We were homesick for the land of green!

Mummy and Daddy Come to Scotland

Let me preface this blog with the fact that I have an exam Saturday (as in two days) so instead of figuring out why the political value of sport has never been higher, I have decided to procrastinate. Mom and dad: Of course I already know the answer and have a well prepared outline.
Speaking of my mom and dad, I have to say seeing them made me homesick and happy all at once. I forgot how nice it is to eat meals consisting of more than toast and butter noodles, as well as being able to order something besides the cheapest thing off the menu (garlic bread). So it was a like being on even more of a vacation than I already was. My parents stayed at this really pretty old building that used to be a high school but is now a hotel. While it is beautiful, it was also on the way to the castle. Translation= hotel was uphill. Everytime I went to meet my parents I would be huffing by the time I knocked on their room. I looked great I'm sure for seeing them for the first time in 2 months. But they welcomed me in red faced and all and instead of giving me some salad and water, they brought me some kraft mac n' cheese. Of course I was more than happy to have my beloved blue box of good flavor, but I'm beginning to think that perhaps scientists are on to something when they say to eat healthy...who knew? So I took my parents out to dinner (well they took me out, but it was my choice of restaurant...) at a really traditional scottish restaurant. It was really cute and we immediately ordered beer and wine and appetizers. I have to say I have really started to love the soups here. My parents were clearly exhausted and jet lagged so after a quick bite I sent them on the way and trekked down the immense mountain to the bus. Now if you know me, you know I love sleep. However, I know my parents like to get up early so me being the considerate daughter that I am, I called my parents at 10 am. Well, for the first time ever, they were asleep. Apparently jet lag lasts more the 4 hours. Shocking. So I let them get back to bed and I happily followed suit. We had a ton of fun eating, shopping, more eating, my dad drinking while my mom and I went shopping. I took them to the Stirling castle, to which my dad replied, "is there a steak and beer there?" So were not your historical family, whatchya gonna do?
The highlight of the trip was when we decided to go on an 8 hour car trip around Scotland. So we set off in the car, Mom, Dad, Kacey and myself, to see all scotland has to offer. Now, if you do not know the rules of the scotland, you are not alone, neither does my dad...our driver. Just kidding! He did a really good job, besides going the wrong way in a roundabout (almost died), hitting a sharp curb, and not listening to the GPS navigator ("Please exit the roundabout. Exit the roundabout now. EXIT THE ROUNDABOUT!"). But I cannot do better so I cannot complain. I cannot explain the breath-taking mountains, valleys, sheep, streams, and Lochs that we passed on the car ride. It really made me appreciate the views and landscapes. The car ride was exciting, but I feel like it may be a while before I hop back in a car for 8 hours in a foreign country.
For the last night, my parents pulled out all the stops. My dad surprised me by buying an early birthday present since I will not be able to see them on my birthday. He picked out a beautiful necklace with silver flowers that are only found in scotland. I was crying because my dad had picked it out for me, his little girl. I really thought it was beautiful, but I guess my dad didn't know that right before I left, my mom bought me a cross necklace that I love (yeah...we kind of kept that one a secret...) So we decided we would look for a ring together the next morning. I am currently wearing the rings we picked out together and they constantly remind me of my two loves: Scotland and my family. Saying goodbye to my parents was incredibly difficult. I am so happy they got to share Scotland with me and got to see how happy I am here. After entertaining all my friends and family, it was time for me to be entertained...off to Italy for SPRING BREAK!

Girls Week!

So Kaytee and Kathryn, two of my best friends from the good ol' champaign urbana, came to visit me for their spring break. One word to sum up our time together, out of control, by one word I meant phrase I guess. Last year Kaytee and I got to visit Kathryn in Belgium for our spring break, so it was only natural to do a repeat. The entire week we did what girls did best, gossiped, shop and drank wine, went through a few too many bottles but when in Scotland...As lovely as my little town of Stirling is, emphasis on the little, we decided to make a few adventures out of a few cities. Our first trip? Glasgow. Shopping center of Scotland. We explored the boutiques of Glasgow and became depressed after we realized we could not afford the things most of the stores sold. Literally it was being like going to Disneyworld and not being able to ride the rides. Very tragic indeed. So what did we do? Drank and ate our feelings. Mostly drank. We went to this really cute restaurant located on the top floor of an indoor, swanky mall. The restaurant was recommended to us and it was apparently the place to go if you want to be "seen." So we indulged in some top class dining, and enjoyed wine by the glass. I cannot tell you what we talked about for three hours, but there never seemed to be a dull moment during that dinner. One minor detail I have forgotten to mention thus far: Kaytee, Kathryn, and I all shared my room, or should I say box. My room is plenty big for me, but for three of us? oh man, we did lots of snuggling. So we woke up the next day and explored around Stirling. Did more shopping, watched a Rugby game (I love Rugby) and saw the Stirling Bridge up close and personal. It's the bridge that William Wallace stopped the English at...you know no big deal. I also showed them the castle on my campus, no big. We laid low that night and taught the boys upstairs how to play our favorite card game...NERTZ! They were also very impressed that we knew how to shuffle. They called the shuffling a trick and demanded we teach them. Now they like to show off. The day after we awoke fresh and ready for Edinburgh. Well I was fresh and rosy, they were tired and jet lagged. But we attacked Edinburgh with enthusiasm. Edinburgh is truly beautiful and I absolutely love it there. So much history and I am a sucker for the souvenir shops. I sent them on the underground city tour, but decided to get a lot of my shopping out of the way for allllll my the people who miss me back home. I told them it wasn't scary and they would enjoy it. Well, I guess I am very brave, they were freaked out. Who knew, I'm unscarable. Note: I refuse to watch scary movies...If i do I need a nightlight and JJ next to me. But we enjoyed our time in Edinburgh and I got to show somebody around for a change, usually I'm the one who is lost and being showed around. Our final adventure of the trip was a visit to St. Andrew's. We wanted to see the coast and touch the North Sea (Did not know we were surrounded by the North Sea.) The bus ride was a little long but we got there and loooved it. St. Andrew's is beautiful. I know I say that pretty much about every city, but this place had a beach, castle ruins, green golf courses and a very cute downtown. The one complaint: the Wind. I seriously could have been knocked over or carried away with the wind. I had to walk backwards in order to breathe. My dad would probably insert here how he golfed in that weather and scored very well. Moving right along, we walked on the beach, proceeded to get sand everywhere that wasn't covered by clothing (in shoes, hair, ears...ickk) and then touched the North Sea! Yay! We walked around, snapped some epic photos, froze our bums off, spent more money, drank some beers, had delicious soup, and then hopped on a bus back to my dear Stirling. Unfortunately, my two loves had to leave really early the next morning, so we stayed in and ate some pizza and had a final Nertz session with the boys. I cannot tell you how much fun we had and how good it was to see KK and KT. It made me a but homesick, but luckily the next day I had more visitors! (Told you I've been busy) My mommy and Daddy came to see me in bonny Scotland! The girls week came to a sad end, but luckily I had family time to look forward to.