Amsterdam

Happy Monday everyone! I returned from Amsterdam yesterday and like I've said probably after every trip I've gone on, I had a great time and loved the city. Most of my pictures are of buildings because I absolutely loved them. Weather wise, we didn't have the best weekend because it was rainy and pretty cool, but I must say I didn't mind the break from the hot sun and humid days we have had and returned to back in Milan. We arrived on Thursday night and headed to our hostel which, get this, was a boat. Yea, Amsterdam actually has more canals than Venice and they have tons of ports that cargo ships dock on and some have been turned into hostels. Ours was named Christina and usually takes groups on trips around Holland, and then when not traveling , it docks and sets up as a hostel. It was small and cozy rooms, but we enjoyed it and it was perfect for us since we were pretty much only in the rooms to sleep at night. Like the Dutch town of Cedar Grove that I come from, I saw tons of wooden shoes, windmills, tulips, and unfortunately, many streets and names that contained "Oost" in them :) Unlike the Dutch town of Cedar Grove though, Amsterdam is an incredibly liberal city having the Red Light District and the smell of the very legal drug there, marijuana, lingering in many coffee shops. Differences apart though, it was interesting seeing the culture. We started out our Friday by walking the streets in the rain and taking a canal cruise throughout the city. Bikes are EVERYWHERE. They have their own roads and traffic lights as well. All of the houses there are pretty narrow and have small stairwells so the buildings are built with hooks on the top , able to enable a makeshift pulley system that they still use to this day for moving and getting large things to the upper apartments. Many buildings are built slanted forward as well so that as you pull things up, they don't scrape against the side of the building on the way up - those Dutch, pretty smart people. There are also a lot of floating houses on the water. They are incredibly expensive, and despite their rather run-down exteriors, we did some peeping while on our canal cruise and whooooa they are pretty nice inside. We then went to the Anne Frank House and saw the annex where she and her family were in hiding for 2 years before getting betrayed and turned over to the Nazis. (It's the middle building in the 3rd picture from the top) I really appreciated seeing this because I read Anne's diary as a little girl and have still, to this day been amazed at her story. It was chilling seeing the place where it all took place and then hearing her father's story of coming back for the first time, being the only survivor of the family, and reading Anne's diary. From there we had dinner and had a few drinks at some bars. We strolled through the Red Light District just to see what all the fuss was about and yikes, it was pretty disturbing. Women in ALL different sizes and sadly, all different ages, some waaaay too young in very minimal clothing standing in windows. It was disturbing just because it's hard to fathom any woman selling herself that short. So that was probably the least thing I liked about the city. The next day though, we headed out and stopped at a flea market and later a flower market. I really wanted to buy some tulip bulbs, but I asked and they said I wouldn't be able to take them back to the U.S. After that we went to the Van Gogh Museum and I got to see the original of my favorite painting - Starry Night. Enjoyed that, and then we all did a very American thing, and ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I can honestly say that I've never been to one, so it was my first time. It only fit for the evening because we followed it by getting tickets to a comedy show, "Boom Chicago". It was a show in English that made comparisons between the Dutch and America and it was actually really funny. That was pretty much the end of our trip then because we left early the next morning for Milan. On my flight back, I sat next to a man from Amsterdam and I started telling him about the small Dutch town I'm from; our annual Hollandfest and growing up Klompen dancing. He thought this was great and even thought that he had heard of Cedar Grove?! I told him our neighboring town was called Oostburg and he absolutely loved that, especially that it had kept the original Dutch spelling. He said he's going to have to try and make it over to Cedar Grove/Oostburg sometime.
Anyways, enjoy the pictures and I'm off to study for my classes while most everyone else back home is enjoying the beginning days of summer :( Ciao ciao!

Barcelona

I'm back from a long weekend away to Barcelona, Spain. Me, along with 4 other girls, flew into the city on Thursday night and stayed until Monday morning. Our first day was consisted of laying out on the beach for the day. We got there early and took a few breaks for lunch and walks but enjoyed soaking in the rays for the majority of the day. While we preferred to keep our suits on, a lot of women prefer the "no tan-lines" look and went around the beach topless. One older woman, unfortunately for us, took post right in front of us in nothing but a G-string bottom - yikes! While we were there we were approached by a girl going out and recruiting people for a bar crawl that night and so we signed up. According to the girl, they usually get about 45 people a night; well that night they had quite a few less...only 11 of us total. We went to 3 bars and then ended our night at a huge club on the beach. It was fun but we all agreed, not worth all the money we had to pay. My first few nights at the hostel we stayed at I didn't get much sleep due to an old guy that was also in our large room. His snoring was like a fog horn. Sleeping with my fingers in my ears didn't even drone out the noise. The night of the bar crawl we didn't get home til around 5am...I'm still catching up on sleep.
Anyways, our next two days were mainly sightseeing. We went on an informative walking tour of the city and got a lot of history. Basically, Barcelona was hardly on the map until they started preparing for hosting the Olympics in 1992 and now it's one of the most popular vacation and visited cities in the world. All the beaches that they are known for weren't there before the Olympics, they were man-made by shipping tons and tons of sand over from the Sahara desert. So technically...I've buried my my feet in the Sahara! We also spent a day doing mainly Gaudi sights. Gaudi is the famous architect from the city that started the Sagrada Familia church there. This church was absolutely exquisite. Construction started in 1882 and it still isn't finished. Gaudi was a very "out-of the-box" designer and the inside is supposed to resemble a forest almost. The inside hardly has much done, but we could catch the foresty sense already. It's doubtful that it will be done in my lifetime, but I think it'd be amazing to take a trip back there in 50 years and see how much progress they've made. Gaudi also designed a few apartments in the city which stand out and are pretty different. We ended by visiting the park that, again, was designed by Gaudi himself. For all my America's Next Top Model girls, it's where the final runway show was held during the season of Melrose and Carrie D :) We spent a few of our nights at the Traveler's Bar which was down the street from our hostel. Barcelona is a gorgeous city, but its one downfall is the number of pickpocketing that goes on. We were in McDonald's late one night (I know McDonalds? really? it's open late, that was our excuse.You wouldn't believe how popular it is here in Europe - and expensive!!!) and one of my friends was just finished ordering and we noticed a guy (nicely dressed mind you) standing close next to her and someone told her how creepy it was. She turned towards him and caught him with his hand in her purse grabbing her wallet. She screamed luckily, slapped his hand and he freaked out, didn't get anything and took off out of Mickey D's. That was our last night there though, and we made it through the trip without anything taken. I feel like I just got back from Barcelona, and now I have to start packing and I take off for Amsterdam tomorrow. I'll have more pics from there and I also will add some pics soon hopefully of my neighborhood, dorm, and room for all you to see where I've been spending my days here in Milan. Enjoy the pics! Ciao from Italy.

Time is Flying!!

My long anticipated wait for visitors has both come and gone in such a blur. The month of April just flew by! Now I'm back into school and studying, (I have only 4 weeks of class left actually), but I'm finding it even harder with the great summer weather we've been having here. I also blame the weather on why it's taken me so long to get another post on here - I've been getting e-mails and messages asking "when are you going to update your blog???" So I'll wrap up the last week with my parents and update you on where I'm heading next.
My parents and I certainly did a great job seeing all there is to see in Rome! The Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Pantheon, Circus Massimus, Trevi Fountain, National Museum, The Vatican: Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's, Vatican Museum, and the Catacombs. We had wonderful sunny weather for all days but one when it was rainy, but we made use of a museum that day. Rome has so much to see and so much history it's almost overwhelming. We were actually even lucky enough to be there over the celebration weekend of when Rome was founded some 2760 years ago. Over the three days we were there, we took in so much information about the city, all the emperor's, and the buildings that I won't even begin to really tell you about it. That way, you'll just have to go there yourselves and learn about it :) Here's a little fact though - There is a legend about the Trevi Fountain (see my parents pictured by it) that if you throw a coin into it and make a wish, you are guarenteed a return visit to Rome in your lifetime. My parents threw one in so maybe you can arrange your trip over here with them?
With the extra days that they were back here in Milan before they left, we did a bit more exploring to the Scala Theater and of course ladies, my mother and I did some shopping :) (we left my dad to fend for himself and sent him off with some ice cream and told him to explore the Duomo some more) It was definitely the first time traveling with my parents where I wasn't just tagging along asking my mom what we're doing next. I've gained lots of traveling experience since I've been here and am used to having to find out where to go so most times I was the one leading my parents around with the map. To my parents defense, it can be tricky reading those maps, and finding those street names (Nazionale- got it yet dad?), and finding where one of your 4 pair of reading glasses are while carrying all our gear can just be a hassle. Sorry mom and dad:) You don't know how many pictures were taken and moments we had where one of them would say, "Oh Mugs, don't put that on your blog", or "You better not put that on the blog!!" All in all, I had such a great time with them and I found it hard saying bye. I only have 2 months left, but I was spoiled in the past 3 weeks having my visitors, that I was kind of getting used to having people from home around.
Now, like I said, I'm slowly wrapping up my semester of school. The weather has been pretty consistent in the low 70's everyday. My hypothesis is that Italians are all cold-blooded because they STILL have not put away their coats and are wearing their sweaters and pants! I asked an Italian in one of my groups for a class about it, and he said that this isn't that hot yet. The real summer weather hits in July and August when it's normal for it to get over about 105 degrees here everyday. I will be home by the time July gets here - phew.
I have also been planning the last few trips for my remaining months here. So far I have trips to Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Sorento/Capri/Pompeii planned. I'll also be spending my birthday with 9 others in Greece in a villa we rented for a week right on the sea coast. :) A little relaxing beach vacation in between finals. I'm heading home June 30th and although it seems like ages away...I know it's going to creep up on me and before I know it my semester abroad will be over. I hope all is well in the U. S. of A. I saw you all got your own little taste of summer 80 degree yesterday....but today I saw that it's...well you're all there I won't even say :) Ciao Ciao! Love from Italy!

More Special Visitors

My parents have arrived safe and sound and are actually out on own excursion for the day. They are both having a great time and asking every imaginable question (what's that, what does that say, who's that man statue on the horse, when was this built, etc) of course, all of which I have no idea. I've been here like 3 months and don't know the entire history of the city :) They are lucky they made it here actually because on their connecting flight, they were sitting in the wrong "waiting area" for boarding the flight and just thought the flight was running late as time passed closer to the departure of the flight. Then over the loud speaker there was a "last call for Demianiuks(they said it was pronounced like Dem-yan-yooks, but we all respond to this as well for we've heard every form of our name through our lifetime) They were able to make the flight though. Lucky for them, I have a cousin (their nephew) that lives in Southern France and he and his girlfriend were planning on driving down to spend the Easter holiday with us and swung by the airport to pick them up. I went to meet them all at the hotel where both my parents and cousin stayed, said our hello's and then we all went out to the city. My mother was a little overwhelmed by the size of the city and was flabbergasted how I was able to find my way around and settle in. We went into the Duomo and saw only a small section of the cathedral because Easter service was in session. We explored the city center a bit more and they all came to my dorm before sitting down for some Italian pizza. They were pretty tired so by 8pm they were heading back to the room and I went home to my dorm. The next morning we were planning on driving out to Bergamo, a city about an hour from Milan. My cousin Kory lived here for a while for his job and it was nice to hand over the "tour guiding" reins for day :) We walked around for the day in the sunny and 75 degree weather and then piled back into our compact car and, of course upon my dad's request of doing everything we can, we drove up into the mountains a bit. I was stuck in the back between my parents and no more than two minutes into our drive, my mother was zonked out next to me and my dad on my right, who was ready to "go and do more" was totally gone as well. I did manage to get pictures of them both, which are humorous, but I was forbidden to put them up here. They did wake up as we were driving up the mountain, which consisted of narrow roads weaving back and forth up the side(imagine my mother during this-yikes). We got the top and got a beautiful view of the valley and town below us. That night we did dinner together again downtown and walked the streets. The next day was Kory and Myriam's last day here and they wanted to go off and do what Milan is best for, shopping. My parents and I went to the Duomo again and walked all through it and climbed to the top. We met my cousins on the street and said our good-byes and headed on our way stopping in a few stores before ending up at the Sforza castle. It is full of artifacts of Milan from the early 13th century into modern times. I showed them more of the city, and then we dedicated the last part of the day getting them ready for their first day trip on their own to Venice. I took them to the train station, bought their tickets and took them through the exact steps and transportation on how to get there. My mom has it written down word for word so I'm confident that they got there today. I'm back to classes today after my long break, but I only have one today and then I'm skipping class tomorrow because we are flying out to Rome for the long weekend. I know they are enjoying their time here and are quite the crew to travel with. Dad is getting lots of practice with his new favorite language, different pronunciations of words everytime but he's trying :) We all really enjoyed seeing my cousin and Myriam since we don't get to see them that often and appreciated all the help they gave us! I'll keep you updated with pics and stories as I know you're all anxiously waiting to hear how my parents handle Europe :) Have a great rest of the week! Love from Italy

Special Visitor

Just so everyone is at ease, in case you've heard of the large earthquake in Italy, I'm 100% ok. I was in Northern Italy at the time. I was actually unaware of it until my mom texted me about it and asking if I was ok. Thank you to everyone who called or wrote to her asking if I was ok.

I've been enjoying my spring break off of classes in beautiful 70 degree weather here in Italy, accompanied by my boyfriend Andrew. We have had a busy last week and a half but it's been a blast. Despite his flight arrival dilemmas and mishaps, we started out with a 3 day trip in Paris. I'm just going to name off the many things we saw and did over the days and expand upon them further. The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Lourve, Luxembourg Gardens, the Paris Statue of Liberty, Jardin des Plantes, Arc de Triomphe, and spent lots of time just walking and getting a feel for the whole city. When we got to the city and were trying to find our way to the hotel, we were impressed with the friendliness of locals. As we were searching for streets signs, a woman approached us asking where we needed to go. She wasn't familiar with the street, but another woman approached us asking where we needed to go. In the meantime, the first woman had already flagged down a couple to help us. So with the help of our four locals standing around us, we were pointed in the right direction. Our small hotel staff amazed us as well with all the help they gave with directions and favors for us. Google translation came in handy for them! As for our daily adventures, we only went to one museum, which was the Lourve. It was well worth it though even though the place is huge and there's no possible way to see even half the items in it if you spent an entire day there. We ventured all across the city and had a picnic in one of the gardens one afternoon. We found that we enjoyed just walking around and exploring the city with a map in hand and in many cases stumbling across places we probably never would have otherwise made a point to see. We ended the last night in Paris by going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and seeing the city all lit up. It was actually well worth it and sure, even a little romantic :) We even saw a proposal occur at the top of the tower.
First trip down, 2 more to go. Second on the list was Venice, Italy. I had already visited Venice before this but there was sure a difference in being there this time rather than during Carnevale. We only spent one night here, but had two days. The first day was a rainy so it made sightseeing and walking around a little less enjoyable, but day 2 was sunny and warm. We had dinner sitting right next to the Grand Canal one night too.
Trip 3 I'm still recovering from. We ventured north to Cinque Terre. There are 5 small towns right on the coast that make up Cinque Terre and are located in the mountains. We arrived at noon on day one, set down our bags, changed and were out on the hiking trails for the day, returning at 6. We ended up going high up into the mountains, and these trails were not the easiest. They were steep, there were dropoffs right next to you and paths that at some points were only a mere foot wide. We were sore and tired after our hike, which included getting lost a few times and backtracking and I didn't know if I'd make it through another day of hiking. The second day though we wanted to hike through all the 5 small towns, but part of the trail was closed due a large landslide. We were somewhat glad though because once again, the trails were tough and the sun was hot. Ending in the last city of Monterosso was perfect because we were able to lay and relax on the beach for a good hour before then heading back to Milan.
It's all gone by so fast and Andrew is already leaving tomorrow. We've done our own exploring and sightseeing around Milan as well, but are hanging pretty low. I do have to say though, our diets have consistently been comprised of pizza/pasta followed by gelato...almost daily. As much as I hate to say goodbye I do need to say bye to the gelato for quite some time! Enjoy pictures and there will be more to come as my parents are arriving on Sunday! Love to all!