Roma

I thought I would like Rome more than I did. After a tearful goodbye and a 3 hour train ride from Perugia I wasn’t in the best of spirits. The incredible crowded 2 line metro in Rome didn’t help, especially because, as an experienced traveler now, I know how to use metros. You MOVE IN when you get on so other people can get in. Apparently this was a difficult concept for the citizens and visitors of Rome to grasp. Ridiculous.

We found our hostel with little difficulty, but the rooms weren’t ready. We dropped our stuff off in the kitchen and headed out: first stop, Vatican City and Sistine Chapel.

Pause. First stop amended: FOOD. We found a kebab place near the Vatican (Cesca introduced us to this wonderful food in Perugia the first night and I’ve had like 7 since. So. Good). We also stopped again along the way for, you guessed it, gelato! After following the scenes for the Vatican Museum, we ended up at the exit. How? I have no idea. So we decided the entrance must be close, we should just follow the wall. Bad idea. We ended up walking around the ENTIRE Vatican, which, mind you, is a different country. So we totally walked around a country. How many people can say that? Anyway, we ended up near St. Peter’s Basilica, and after finding out the chapel was closed for the day, decided to go in. It was amazing! I love that kind of architecture because it is so much more decorative than the architecture of most English cathedrals, not that they aren’t cool too. After that, we headed back to the metro to get to the Spanish Steps. Unfortunately, Andrea and Casey got left behind (again, it happened the first time on the metro there too) but we met up there. They were beautiful, but the stupid salespeople were killing me. We were just sitting there and at least half a dozen came up and tried to sell us something. They also take like 10 tries before NO finally gets through to them. Ugh.

Next we tried to head over to the Trevi fountain, but went the wrong way and wandered for a bit. We stopped for some crepes, but I wasn’t feeling well enough to eat so I didn’t. We got directions and kept moving on. After finding it and making a few wishes on coins (I saw yours dad, I’m sure of it!) we headed back to a great gelato place we saw and I got a nutella crepe while Casey and Andrea got their 3^rd serving of gelato of the day. Stuffed, satisfied and exhausted, we returned to our hostel to relax and practice our Spanish, as we were heading to Valencia the next day. We were given flowers at the hostel because it was La Festa Della Donna- Women’s Day! Kind of cool, huh?

The hostel was alright, though sleeping over Liz on a bunk bed isn’t my most preferable sleeping arrangement (you toss a lot Liz, it’s a known fact), and some boys came in late and were a bit loud. Hostels aren’t  my favorite things anyway, but we managed with this one. After a good night’s rest, we were up and at ‘em for day 2.

First dinner in Rome = Kebab

so much nutella

So good!!!

Basilica di San Pietro

inside the basilica

Trevi Fountain

Piles of gelato. so good

saw one. for realz

Flowers for the Festa della Donna

Liz, Sarah and I attempted to return to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel, forgetting it was Ash Wednesday. The Pope was making a speech later, so the Vatican was waaaay crowded. We cut out losses and headed to the Coliseum, which was huge, impressive and awesome. It wasn’t quite as big as I thought, but I think that’s cause they make it look so huge in movies. We wandered around enjoying the sun, then headed over to Ancient Rome and wandered there for a few hours, as it is HUGE. We saw some other IC students there, which was kind of comical, then headed back to the hostel, got one last gelato and gathered our stuff and headed off to the airport. I accidentally left my phone on the bus (all is well, I have a new one) and we almost got on a plane to Baden Baden, but the point is we made it safely to Valencia, were yet another crazy adventure was surely awaiting us. Even though our feet where killing us. KILLING US. 

Il Colosseo 

Inside the Colosseum 

Arch of Constantine

Last gelato in Italy =(

Firenze

Florence was another city that I really enjoyed. We took a train there. I love trains, though I’ve never taken a train before Spring Break, so each time was an interesting experience. Armed with my motion sickness medicine for each trip, I was prepared though. I love watching the countryside pass by as we amble along. It doesn’t feel fast, but it gets you there pretty quick!

Anyway, despite the lovely sunshine, it was actually rather chilly in Florence. We tried to find the David, but the gallery was closed on Mondays. Eh. No big deal. We were returing to the Piazza del Duomo to find something else to do when we happened across a street market. We spent hours looking at all the different items each stall had to offer, though I admit I’m not a fan of the pushier salespeople in Europe. They tend to be mean and make comments if you don’t stop at their store. Not cool.

Anyway, I ended up with a really nice t shirt and a cute bracelet, both of which say Firenze on them. We of course decided that we needed to warm up and so we hit up a gelateria. Andrea found it. She finds all of them. Seriously, the girl has a sixth sense for gelato. As usual, it was delicious. I could eat gelato every day and never tire of it. We wandered around and saw a few more sites like the Piazza della Signioria, il Ponte Vecchio, Dante’s House and the Disney Store. We hopped on an earlier train than intended because despite the loveliness, it was really cold and we wanted to be back in Perugia, our home base in Italy. We chilled in Cesca’s flat for a bit, then they headed to the hostel and I stayed with Cesca. I loved sleeping over at her apartment, it was like we were at home again living in the same room. I gathered my things for the coming day: our next stop was Rome!

Firenze:

Casey wanted to find a calzone. She did

More kebabs. SO. GOOD.

"We should get these for all the grand openings we do!"

Awesome shopping market

Carnivale masks

Chocolate and Vanilla gelato

Il Duomo in Firenze

Disney store!

HE SMELLS LIKE STRAWBERRIES!!!!!

Piazza della Signoria

Ponte Vecchio

Amazing sidewalk art

Perugia

After a relatively painless train ride to Perugia with Cesca, we stopped off at one of Cesca's recommended restaurants with her and some flatmates. It is the one where they give you a four course meal for 15 euro. So prime. Not the Italian food I was picturing, but it was nice to have something different for a change (especially since all I ate for the rest of the time in Italy was gelato, pizza and some nutella... yeah).

Sunday Cesca showed us all around Perugia. It is such a beautiful place with so much activity and fun. It is so homey and wonderful. It was probably my favorite place in Italy. We wandered around all over, seeing the Basilica, some views, some pizza places and just some great sights. Lots of cats, also. I wanted to take like 5 home, but I'm sure my dad would kill me.

The weather was wonderfully perfect- it was warm and sunny. I didn't even need my coat! Sure, it is still like winter in Italy so people thought we were crazy, but it was glorious. Loved it so much.

Not much to tell about it, saw some great places and views, ate some great food, spent some time with mia bella sorella. Perfect day.

Getting ready for our classy Italian meal

Cesca broke the chair

Kebab- new favorite food

Kitty that looks like Sinatra!

We bought great food from a cafe!

Italian drinking fountains are literally fountains

Totally rode that. It was awesome

Found another cat

Best tour guide on a gorgeous day

una bella citta

Mom wants me to bring this one home

One of many gelatos

My own pizza. I thought Cesca was kidding

Cesca got the most Italian one ever, can't you tell?

NUTELLA PIZZA, OH YEAH

Dominic the Donkey underwear. So cool

Stop 1: Pisa

Before I talk about Pisa, I just want to say I love my friends. Casey and Andrea are going to Greece today and they're missing my birthday. I was sad but okay with it cause Liz is making me Chicken Parm, but I came home today after a long day (work and seeing Frankenstein at the National Theatre) to walk in to this:

Andrea made me a cake!

They did such a good job!

Especially compared to last year's writing disaster. Haha.

Anyway, Pisa. Awesome. Although because I was sick, my ears popped so bad on the descent that I wanted to cry and also couldn't hear. Cesca, Sarah, Mary and I found our hostel then a restaurant to get some Italian food. Yum! It wasn't amazing, and Sarah ended up with a salad on her pizza, but hey, that's life.

Then, after a rough night of coughing and wheezing and loud neighbors, we set off for the day. Starting with nutella. The Italians LOVE nutella. Now I do too. 

Nutella waffle. Oh, the deliciousness.

So much nutella. So prime.

We also stopped off for some gelato as well. The first of many, I can assure you. It was so delicious and wonderful and I never want ice cream again.

Afterwards, we headed off to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Crazy difficult to walk up as it is LEANING so gravity has strange effects on how you walk. Plus the stairs are so worn down and smooth that it is crazy. It was a great experience, but we were in a big time crunch after so we high tailed it back across Pisa to the train station to head to Perugia! Pisa was our shortest day, so expect some really long posts after this one!

Leaning Tower. Yeah. Pretty cool

Twins at the top!!!

Train ride!!!!!!!!!!! 

Promise

After a long and arduous journey across an entire continent, through 7 cities in like 9 days, I have returned home to London.

It was exhausting and great fun, with lots of travel, stress, beautiful sites and wonderful memories.

However, it is almost midnight, and alas, I have to work tomorrow then go see Frankenstein at the National Theatre.

Therefore, I will not be updating about my trip until at least Tuesday, but I will begin posting pictures tonight. I will be doing a separate post for each place to give them all some time to shine, so I just wanted to keep you all posted.

I thought you would all appreciate knowing I am alive and well.

Goodnight.

Pre Spring Break Update

To give you a warning, I won't be updating this for like a week and a half, because I will be galavanting across Europe with my friends for Spring Break. Hitting up 7 cities. Hellooooooo exhaustion.

Anyway, the last few days have been lovely as Cesca and Mary have been visiting. I feel bad because there isn't really a ton of stuff to do in London besides touristy stuff that they finished in one day, so they wandered around for a few days as I had to both work and do midterms at school.

On Wednesday, I was at work and they popped by after visiting things like Big Ben and Westminster Abbey and the like. We wandered around Trafalgar and then headed over to Her Majesty's Theatre, where glory awaited.

Yes, it has only been 2 weeks since I last saw Phantom, but it was special cause Cesca and I got to see it together. We couldn't stop gushing and smiling the whole time, despite a rather raucous audience (I wanted to punch someone soooo bad, but they quieted down after a while).

Long story short, the performance was brilliant. Tears were shed, hearts broken, it was epic. I wasn't feeling that well (I have an annoying cough that won't go away) so I was gonna skip the stage door, but we couldn't resist. Will Barratt (Raoul) came out first again and was super sweet. He signed Cesca's notebook cause we didn't buy another programme. He is hilarious. He asked her how to spell her name. Here's a rundown:

Will: What's your name?
Cesca: Francesca
Will: Is that spelled the normal way? F-R-A-N...?
Cesca: C-E-S-C-A. Yeah. Um, is there an abnormal way of spelling it?
Will: You wouldn't believe the crazy spellings I get. Someone will be like, oh yeah, my name is Chris! And I'll be like oh, ok, C-H... And they will say, actually its K-Y-R-H-S (and then he rolls his eyes and laughs). So whereabouts are you from?
Mary:New York City
Will: *No reaction*
Cesca: *gestures to me* We're from Buffalo.
Will: Buffalo!? Buffalo, NY? I did a concert there once. That was like ten years ago... Yeah, I've been there! I have done concerts in weird places... Roanoke, Birmingham...

yeah. He was super excited.

Next Sofia came out and was hogged by French people for a while. I can't blame them, she's awesome. Then she came over to us, smiled at me and said "I remember you!" To Cesca and I. TO which Cesca replied "Actually, you probably remember her. Cause we are twins." And I almost died of happiness. She was telling us about how she was worried as she'd just gotten over a cold, to which we all responded that she sounded amazing, which she did. It was too cold to wait for John Owen Jones, and Cesca didn't want the 'illusion of the Phantom' to be shattered. We gushed all the way home on the tube.

The next day, I had to take some midterms which I think were alright, then I met up with Cesca and Mary again for a different adventure. Cesca had coerced me into seeing Love Never Dies while she was here. Let's be real, I've been curious since it came out if it is really as bad as I thought. I was willing to admit defeat, to throw my hands up and admit that I was wrong, that it was excellent. But I don't have to. It was just as bad as I could have pictured, maybe even worse. The only nice thing was we bought really cheap seats. Like back row seats. The top section was quite empty, so we got to move down like 7 rows for a better view. Still didn't make the show any better, but that was nice.

It dragged and has a hokey plotline and silly music and it was just plain bizarre. It tried to be so spectacularly set up that so much was lost in translation as too much was going on at once, probably trying to cover up the poor plotline and character assassination. I can honestly say that it was the worst West End/Broadway show I've ever seen. I did feel bad though, because at one point Sierra Boggess was singing a big aria and I could not stop coughing. Like hacking my lungs out. So I got up and left and coughed in the bathroom for like 5 minutes before calmly returning to my seat. I felt bad, but it was better than trying to hold in or disturb the people around me.

On the bright side, seeing the two back to back just reinforced how brilliant the original is. Waaaay better. We didn't even get to meet the cast (which would have redeemed it slightly as they are talented, the show just sucks) but there was a cast function so they weren't coming out till later. Oh well. Not a huge loss. It was a learning experience at least.

Pics!!!!!!!!

View from our seats. Center of the stage. Epic 

Outside the theatre, reunited and it feels so good!

He's such an adorable Raoul. And super nice

She is like the sweetest person I have ever met. And she remembers me! Life goal (being recognized by a Phantom actor): complete

Well, I'm off to pack for our whirlwind tour of Italy, Spain and France! Yikes!!!!!!!!! So pumped.