I'm BACK! and ready to take on the blogging world once again... this Christmas/NewYears/StartofSchool break was nice and all but trips are starting up again and I'm ready to start recapping the rest of this amazing year. I guess we should go back about a month ago... and start from there.
Finals suck, but you all know that. Luckily mine didn't seem to be too bad and it was time to live the last few days of glorious first semester bliss. First semester was such a dream. It was nothing that I imagined it would be like, it was everything you could dream it to be. Seriously though. Going into this year I had one good friend going with me to Italy, but I came out of this semester with so many new and amazing friends. There is something I can already tell about Florence friends, and everyone says so, there is just something special there. I think its because here all of us are thrown into such an unknown world and we have to make are way through it together. Sooo, we had three days left together to just LOVE Firenze, and that we did, well for two good days we did. And then it snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed. Seriously though, this was the most snow Florence has seen since the 80's and boy did the city shut down. The airport was closed, the train station was closed, the buses couldn't start, and even the taxis weren't taking passengers. We all went out to dinner together and watched as the snow fell, snowball fights followed, and tooo many pictures of the duomo in the snow were taken. Florence is even MORE beautiful in the snow, like that was even possible!
Luckily I managed to make it on a train the next morning (I was definitly a lucky one since everyones planes were cancelled and it took them days to get home/meet up with people) but it wasn't without its fair share of annoyances. I lugged all of my crap in Big Blue (my parents are probably shuttering at that utterance) to Santa Maria Novella in hopes of making it to Rome to meet up with the fam, only to find out that know trains were leaving from SMN to go to Rome. The rather unpleasent trainitalia worker told me to jump on the next train to Campo di Marte and then just get on any train to Rome. So I did that and got on a train South bound, I had no ticket thus no seat so I sat in a broken seat in the dining cart praying that they wouldn't get me for the no ticket issue -- they didn't thank god! I finally made it to Rome and met up with the fam at the hotel! Finally seeing everyone after 4 months in Italy was the perfect cherry on top to the perfect semester!
Rome is crazy, but everyone knows that! I don't think my brother, sister, and dad were quite ready for it. They seemed to be shell shocked by the Roman confusion. I think I can summarize Rome into three short words: Sightseeing, Papi, and Gypsys. Hands down one of the funniest moments of the trip happened to be one of the first. Seeing my dad get in a fight with a pushy gypsy was definitly something I had to see in my life. I put my money on the gypsy if they had brawled, they are a fiesty bunch of people! The fam was definitly jet lagged in the overwhelming city of Roma, so it was nice to sight see a bit and then have nice down time with them. I do loooove seeing the Vatican though. The Sistine Chapel is always awe inspiring.
Germany was the next destination on the itinerary and I don't think I can say it enough but I LOVE GERMANY. After living in Italia for the last five months, it is heaven to be in the super effecient Germany! Munich was the first stop and munich reallly is amazing! The Christmas Markets alone were enough to make a perfect trip! I loved being in the heart of Christmas! Another funniest moment nominee happened right when we checked into our hotel. Our new German friend with a creeeepy voice had to help us get into our super confusing door and talked to us like we were five. "Do you want to try?" is all he said but seriously the voice was too much to handle. We spent the day at the Hofbrauhaus and the markets. The next day we decided to go to Dachau and see the concentration camp. Both my mom and I had already been to one, but the experience always leaves you feeling a bit lost. It's so hard to imagine what actually happened at these places, yet you know that it did and that leaves you so lost and confused at the world. We came back and went to a movie to decompress!
The next stop was Garmisch which was a nice little ski town. We managed to make it to the top of Germany and walk over to Austria, all the while being stuck in a BLIZZARD. We made it to a "mass" which was in German, in a Luthern church, and not even a real masss. We listened to a German woman trying to pronounce oil... which wasn't working for her. It was nice little break from the usual. Christmas wasss hard. I really missed being home but just had to keep reminding myself its just one Christmas and all my family was here. Somehow I made it through.. haha.
Florence was the last stop of the European tour. It was seriously amazing to be back to the place that I know the most. We saw all the churches and spent a ton of time in the Markets, which are by far my favorite part of Florence. We managed to day trip to Venice. It was nice to be back to the farmiliar and experience it with the fam. I think they all really loved Flo. My mom was able to stay an extra week and we squeaked in tons of day trips and the like. We spent New Years in packkked Florence and even managed to stay up for midnight! We went to Cinque Terre on Sunday. Cinque Terre is actually amazing! The pesto pizza isn't bad either! The views ain't bad either! We spent Monday in Florence tying up odds and ends and she got to see school and where i live. We went to dinner at my roommate and I's favorite restraunt with my roommate and her mom. The next dy we day tripped to Siena which was amazing. I love Tuscan citys like that. The marble floor mosaics in their duomo are amazing! That night we went together to dinner with my roommate and her mom again! We went to Assisi the next day, which was sooo beautiful. Definitly a top Italian city! The next day was back to Rome so she could fly out.
Sooo tha was Christmas break! Now second semester has started which is crazy. I will be home in less than three months. That is absolutely crazy!
Music Guide: "Home' by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
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