Finals!!

Hello everyone! Hope you are all doing well! I hear mostly everyone got some snow this past week! YAY!!! This up coming week are finals for me...yay. But on a bright note my dad will be coming out to see me on Wednesday and we will be going to France on Friday until the 23rd. So sadly enough this will probably be my last blog because I will be without computer access.

This past weekend was mostly studying, but with a few highlights. On Thursday for history class we got to go to the British Archeological School and got to actually touch the artifacts! It was a lot of fun, there were cycladic pieces, amphora handles, cups still decorated with Herakles and other designs, and even a spartan helmet and spear head. We had fun to say the least. That night we had our group toga Christmas party which was a fun 30mins. of my life. Then I just hung out with other people for the rest of the night.

Friday I studied all day. At night we went to the Christmas tree lighting. It was cool they had fireworks! I sort of have a video, my camera hates to focus. Then after the lighting they had a free concert which was pretty good. They sung contemporary music from U2, Micheal Jackson, Kings of Leon, Aba. We were dancing and singing and got video taped by a tv camera. (we probably looked like stupid Americans..oh well)


Saturday I decided to get out and went to Sounion where the Temple of Poseidon is. Right when we got on the bus to go it started raining, but we thought it would stop because it was a 2 hour bus ride. Oh no, it got heavier. It was still fun, but we only stayed roughly 10mins on the site before we had to go find some warmth. Naturally right as we are ready to leave it stops raining. It figures, but it was starting to get dark and cold so we had enough.

Sunday is another study day before my art final tomorrow followed by my history final on Tuesday. Hopefully it won't be too bad. I hope everyone back home is hanging in there with their finals and all. Can't wait to see everyone only a few more weeks and I will be home! Miss you and love you!

'Ello Luv!

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is doing well, and getting ready for a wonderful Christmas!!! This past week/weekend I went to London, England! I decided to travel a little bit out of my Greece and Italy area. We left Wednesday night and spent the rest of the week there and left on Sunday morning.


Thursday we went to the London tower which is the picture above. It was really neat to see inside, plus we got a tour which helped. We went into the Royal Jewels museum which showed the magnificent jewels the royalty wore, such as their crowns, scepters, rings, etc. The jewels were massive, I almost didn't believe they were real because they looked almost fake. We also went in a museum that was about Henry VIII which had a bunch of his armor and warfare artifacts. We then crossed the London Tower Bridge to go see the London Bridge (Which is not falling down.) The London Tower Bridge is really cool and the London Bridge is a little disappointing, but still cool to see. We were very cold that day so we went back to warm up. That night we went to a pub which was nice and chill and relaxing.

Friday we went on a walking tower to see all the major attractions. We saw the clock tower, West Minster, Parliament, Buckingham Palace. And at Buckingham Palace when we were there, they had the changing of the guard which was really cool. The queen nor the princes were home, but that is okay. After the tour we went to get fish and chips at a pub which is the picture above. And for not being a fish person it was amazing! I ate it all up. Right as we were walking back to the flat with our full bellies, the girls we stayed with told us to turn around because we were going shopping. We went to this huge market place. It was massive! They had everything from touristy things, to homemade trinkets, to tattoos and piercings. It was a sight to see. Once it started to close we decided to head back. We all were going to go out to a club, but one of the girls didn't want to go so I stayed back to hang out with her. Naturally after 15min of playing cards, I was so tired. I went straight to sleep.

Saturday was our day to go see a play or musical. We wanted to see Les Misrables, but the tickets were sold out. So we settled for Chicago. It was amazing!! The performance was phenominal and the singing was excellent! I loved it so much! Earlier that day we went to Platform 9 3/4 which was a disappointment, but oh well. We then went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which is the church of England. It was really pretty and massive. You could also climb the dome like in St. Peter's, but we didn't. After Chicago, we packed up and got some sleep before our flight.

Sunday we flew back to Athens which took a big chunk of our day. All I did when I got back was some homework, unpacked, and went to bed. I'm still recouping even though it is Tuesday. But I only have a few papers and I will be close to done with the semester, which is sad, but happy to be done with classes. Can't wait to see everyone soon, have a wonderful rest of the week! Love you and miss you!

Thanksgiving Break!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving break with lots of turkey and pie! We had a lovely Thanksgiving Break traveling around the Peloponnese. We started our journey on Thanksgiving day and went to the Corinth Canal, where you could bungy jump off of, unfortunately it was closed when we were there. We then stopped at the Epidavros theater and saw the temple of the god of medicine, Asclepius, along with the stadium. The theater was pretty cool with acoustics that can be heard all the way to the top of the theater. We did test this by dropping a coin. We ended our day with Nafpoli, it was a really quaint little town. I didn't go swimming b/c it was a bit cold, but I did climb the fortress/castle on the top of the acropolis. It had an amazing view, especially during sunset(pic). We had our Thanksgiving meal that night at the hotel. They made three turkeys for us, but the meat was a bit dry and the stuffing inside was rice and ground beef which looked kinda gross. We had Greek salad, potatoes, and then flan for dessert. Some of us weren't that satisfied so we went to a Gelateri for gelato which was amazing and made up for the dessert at least.

Friday we were back on the bus heading to Mycenae for the morning. It is an ancient city of ruins of the Mycenaean people. It had a graves inside its walls, along with a palace in the center. It was very neat to see and learn. We did go into the museum they had and saw some of the replica items that were buried with the dead and some other pots and inscriptions. We were back on the bus after an hour or so and headed to Sparta. (This is Sparta!!) There really isn't much in Sparta, not even paraphernalia of the movie 300. But Robert, history prof., took us to where he is excavating, the theater(pic.) which was really cool to see and the view was spectacular. However, the Spartans were obsessed with training males and sending them to war that they had little time to reproduce so they ceased to exist b/c they forgot to keep reproducing, which I thought was kind of funny. From Sparta we headed up to Olympia for dinner and the night. Dinner did make up for Thanksgiving, it was really good. We stayed in and watched movies because we don't have tvs in Athens.

Saturday was an exploring of Olympia. First we went to an Olympic museum that described the first Olympics that existed. It was very interesting. We then went to the ruins, where we saw the Temple of Hera, some treasuries, the stadium, the Temple of Zeus, and the gymnasium. The temple of Zeus (pic) was huge, or at least what was left of it. We did go to the museum which had some statues and artifacts found at the site. We were free for the day after the museum and a few of us went to a jewelry place that had 50% off items (score). Most of us just chilled and did homework until dinner. After dinner in our room we had a Harry Potter party with 13 people on 3 beds. It was almost half of our group. It was a blast, we watched Harry Potter IV until our tv cut out towards the end of the movie.

Sunday was a long day on a bus, driving back to Athens. It took 5 hours, which wasn't that long compared to the 7 hours I'm used to in order to get to Minnesota or the 8 hours to Aurora, IL. Now I am just getting some odds and ends done before I go for my trip to London on Wednesday! I can't believe December is two days away, but I can't wait to see you all soon! Miss you and love you all! Keep well!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH-MAN!!! This post is dedicated to my little nephew Noah, who turns one year old today! I wish I could've been at his party in Omaha, but from what I heard he had a great time with family and friends. And made his mommy feed him his cake like a little prince! (I wish I could have seen that, I bet he was so cute!) I know he will have a fabulous day seeing his family in New Ulm for Thanksgiving and will have a grand time eating the big turkey feast! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family and friends! Love you all with many thanks and blessings!!

A weekend in Athens

So hopefully everyone had a wonderful weekend and ready for the big turkey day!! I wish I could have turkey, but hey I'm in Greece so I really can't complain. hehe. I at least want to hear what everyone did for Thanksgiving when you get the chance.

This past weekend, I stayed in Athens. We have already seen most of the museums and acropolis for our classes, so we decided to see the shopping aspect of Athens! ;) On Thursday a group of us went to New Moon, which was good, and I will not trail on with it since most don't want to hear it or are big fans and want to discuss. So on Friday we went shopping and I got a custom made pair of sandals that actually fit!! Imagine that, and they were not too expensive which was nice. That was my big purchase on Friday.

On Saturday a small group of us went to a Christmas festival, which was really exciting when we heard about it. But it was a little anti-climatic when it was mostly based for kids aging 10 and under, and I know I didn't fit in that age class anymore. So we wandered around there for a bit, looked at the shops and the quickly melting ice skating rink(pic above), while listening to Greek Christmas music. It was enjoyable. Although, I think the best part was on the walk to find it we past this park that had a jungle gym and a grass area to play soccer, like a regular park. But then off to the side were tanks, fighter planes, and helicopters that kids were climbing on.(pics below) It was quite a contrast, but was pretty awesome! I almost joined the kids climbing on it, again it was the age thing that stopped me. :)

On our way back we met with our directors randomly and they took us to a champagne and sparkling wine tasting convention. It was in a nice fancy hotel and we had to have a secret password to get our glasses. Once we went around it was so much fun! However, some people were kind of mad we were there because they knew we were not going to buy anything and were just there for the drinks. But they were good drinks and all I need was 5 tastes before I was tipsy. (Don't worry I didn't do anything completely embarrassing.)

Sunday was a homework day, and I had to attend a Greek Orthodox service for my Theology class. It was interesting, a lot of sitting, standing, sitting, and standing again. But was very interesting to attend.

So far school sucks with all the homework and projects, but they are slowly getting crossed off the list. I hope school is going well for all that are still attending. And I hope that everyone has a blessed and thankful Thanksgiving Day celebrated with family, friends, and loved ones. Happy Thanksgiving!! (save some pumpkin pie for me!!)

Delphi

I hope everyone had a great weekend and so far a fabulous week. School is going as well as it can, homework is of course a pain when all you want to do is go and explore Greece. But I am almost done with some classes and I am getting super excited for Thanksgiving!!!

This past weekend we went to Delphi. We left early on Saturday for a three hour bus ride, which was not that horrible. We arrived in Delphi around noon and had lunch. From the picture above you can see that there is no town around the ruins. The town is off to the right about a mile or so and is named Delphi. However, archeologists are told that there was a town built somewhere near the ruins which is the true town of Delphi, but because of the mountains and the terrain it does not seem possible. But Robert our history professor took us to the lower sanctuary, which in the picture is off to the left and lower. There they had treasuries, temple of Athena, and a gymnasium. All were really cool to see even though there was not much left. We called it a day by 2:30pm and went to our hotel, which had an amazing view, and decided to walk around the town. Sadly, everything was closed so we didn't wander for too long. I did some homework and took a nap until dinner and then played some games after dinner and then called it a night.

On Sunday, was when we climbed up to the higher sanctuary where the temple of Apollo resided, the Athenian treasury was there, some other treasuries, a theatre, and the stadium was at the very top. I nearly died hiking up it, but what else is new. The view was spectacular, and the picture above is on the hike back down from the stadium with the theatre in the foreground, then the temple of Apollo behind it, and the Athenian treasury is the small square building. The mountains everywhere just added to the gloriousness.

We went to the museum there which had a lot of artifacts from the sanctuaries. We then started making the trip home, but we stopped at a monastery, St. Luke (not the famous St. Luke), which was built with the most beautiful scenery. Honestly, these monks sure no how to pick'em. One of my classmates said she wouldn't mind becoming a monk with view a like that. We made it back to Athens by 4pm so we had plenty of time to make a cake for my roommate, Brita, who's birthday it was. We made her dinner and bought a bottle of wine for her, so I think she had a good birthday.

Like I said this week has been filled with homework and busyness. However, tomorrow I am planning on seeing New Moon (twilight) with some friends and before that ordering pizza. So it will be a relaxing start for the weekend. Hope you all are doing well and getting better if you have been sick or hurt. I miss you all so much, especially during this time of year. I love you all!!

Videos

Here are some videos!! One is from the marathon that I posted earlier and the other is some soldiers that are marching, training to be guards that where the funny looking outfits with the puff balls on the shoes and tights and kilt-ish skirts. I'm sorry the camera work is not that steady or great, but I was very tired when I took these videos. Hope you enjoy!

Kriti

Well, based on the beautiful picture above you can guess that I have been enjoying the beach in November! However, I have heard that the weather hasn't been that horrible back home either. This past week was my first week of classes in Athens. Classes are a bit more challenging here than in Rome. It seems as if we have a lot more busy work and reading, but on a plus side we get done with classes pretty early. My language and culture class I get done with before Thanksgiving with a final, Theology is done on the 8th December with a reflection of the class (no final woot!), Senior Sem is done on the 9th of December with a paper, and the only two tests I have are Art and History. However, there are a lot of presentations, quizzes, tests, and papers in between now and the end of classes.

This weekend all of us went to Crete as a group trip set up by our directors. It was great because we had cabins for the boat rides to and fro, and a bus that took us everywhere and to our hotel. The horrible part was that on the Friday that we arrived we had to disembark at 6am. We then went in Knossos for breakfast and then to an archeological site of an ancient Minoan town. It was wiped out by a huge tidal wave that was caused by a volcano in Santorini. The ruins that were left were interesting to see, however, we had no idea what we were looking specifically at, which kinda was a downer at 8am in the morning. Then from there we went to the Museum in Knossos that had a a lot of artifacts that were found from that Minoan city. There were a lot of little jewelry, vases, and statues. It was really neat to see how well preserved they were after we saw the ruins from the Minoan city. From there we found lunch and then got on the bus to go to our hotel in Heraklion the capitol of Crete. On our way into the city we drove past beaches so you can imagine the first thing we did once we got to the hotel. We went to the beach even though it was 4pm in the afternoon. The beach we went to was very pretty and had a beautiful sunset view. I believe that we swam in the Aegean Sea. The next day, Saturday, was ours and it was a beautiful day! We went to the light house and then went to the beach again to take advantage of the weather. We stayed there for the bulk of the day. We did go shopping and waited for the sun to set over by the light house. That night we had to get back on the ferry by 8pm and once again wake up on Sunday at 6am.

Sunday was a fun day!... Like I said we had to be up before 6am to get of the ferry, but when we sailed into Athens it was pouring rain. So I fashionably wore my red poncho over my pjs. I made it back to the apartments by 7am and dropped of my things ate a little and went back out in the rain to volunteer for the Marathon here in Athens by 7:30am. It was a marathon that starts in Marathon, Greece and ends at the stadium in Athens which is 26.4 miles I believe. My job was setting up water bottles at the tables and carefully holding them out to runners as they ran by so they could drink some water. I was scared of getting in the way, but I got it down after a while and towards the end there were more walkers and joggers, so they weren't going lightening fast past me. The first runners of the marathon were from Africa and were amazingly fast! I did get a video of them and will have to post it. It was a fun time and luckily when we started passing out water to the first runners at 10am it stopped raining. I got done around 1pm or so and then preceded to do homework, unpack, find some lunch and be productive. Naturally, I am paying for it today, Monday, because I am very bitter with my comments when I am tired which I feel kind of bad...sort of...some deserve it. hehe just kidding.

I hope everyone else's weekend was just as glorious as mine. I heard it was 70 degrees in Nebraska and I hope it was just as warm in Minnesota and Illinois. I hope everyone is as well as can be and everyone's activities/jobs/school are going well. Please keep me posted on little things I do have computer access a lot more than in Rome!! Miss you and love you all!

Athens, Rodos, Kos, and Thira

Hello to Everyone! Happy Halloween!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween full of candy and costumes. This past week has been my fall break, so I will start from the beginning and try not to make it too winded.

On Saturday 24th October I made it to Athens safe and sound with all of my luggage. We had a bus arranged to take us to CYA (College Year in Athens). It is located next to Panathinalkon Stadium which I believe is the old Olympic Stadium for the Olympics. CYA is an amazing school that has a lounge, computer lab, library, cafe, laundry facilities, etc. It reminds me a lot of home at CSB/SJU but the view is stupendous! You can look out of the lounge balcony or front door and see the stadium and then the Acropolis. It is great. So once we got settled in our apartments for a few days five of us decided to go island hopping. (Just for name sake it was Carissa, Ali, Ellen, Paul, and me).


On Monday we caught a 5:30pm ferry from Pireas to Rodos (Rhodes). It was a 13 hour ride which wasn't that bad, except we slept on hard wood floors. When we landed, it was a perfect day. We found our hostel and set out to venture in old town, which was like the Old Market with shops and restaurants. It was fun to look. We tried to find Kolassus which his feet were left, but when we asked people told us that the statue can't be found anymore. So we just laughed and ventured to a castle/fortification. Then we found the light house/ Fort of Nicholas which is the picture above. You can see that a storm is coming in too with those awesome looking clouds. The ocean view was spectacular! We then bought tickets for our next adventure, got some dinner, and called it a night.


Wednesday we went to Kos. (Wednesday was a Greek holiday of when they said 'No' to someone a long time ago...shows how much I'm getting to know the culture hehe). They had some music performances and the army marched/paraded down the street. Kos was beautiful!! I loved it better than Rhodes. The ocean was a green-blue and the part of town we wandered around was so cute. We first saw the tree of Hippocrates which was odd! The tree was bent in a weird way and still living! We also saw some of the ruins, the Insulae (apartments), fortification, and the temple to Aphrodite. The picture above is of some of the ruins we saw, plus the greenery which was so nice to see from being cooped up in a city for two months. Just to burn time we sat on the dock of the port and looked out at the ocean and Turkey across the way. It was sooo serene. We then walked through a fortification wall which was really neat, I think Alan you would have thought it was pretty cool. Again the clouds rolled in so we decided to seek shelter for dinner. We waited around until 8:30pm when our next ferry took off.


We made it to Thira(Santorini) by 2am on Thursday. We stayed in Fira, and the hostel picked us up from the port and we were able to get in to our rooms and sleep comfortably. Mostly all of Thursday we spent at the hostel sleeping and waiting for the other group to meet us. On Friday we rented ATV s(Four-wheelers) and went around the island. We went to the Perissa beach which was a black sand beach. It was very cool but very cold because we were at the end of the season. The guys went for a swim but I couldn't even take off my sweater. We then drove to Oia to watch the sunset, which is supposedly the place to watch the sunset. And it is very true. Above is one of the pictures I took of the sunset. But Oia itself is beautiful, it is built in the side of the cliff and looks fabulous. After the sunset we drove back to Thira, ate, and went out to the bars. I had a lot of fun, but stayed out way too late. Let's just say 5 hours of sleep was not enough.

The next day, Saturday Halloween, was supposed to be another amazing day in Santorini, but it was very cloudy, windy, and looked stormy. We found out that the ports were going to be closed on Sunday and that we wouldn't have our 7:00am ferry. So we scrambled to get packed, tickets for a 3:30pm ferry, returned the ATVs, and got down to port. It was a lot more crazy than it sounds because some of the group was hungover and wanted to stay and deliberately miss the ferry and miss class on Monday. Finally we convinced everyone and made back to Athens on a very rocky and stormy boat ride. Mom you would have hated it sooooo much!! We made it back to Athens by 1am and hit the hay.

Sunday the 1st of November is a nice relaxing/laundry day since nothing is really open except for CYA. I am slowly getting ready for our first week of classes. Iam excited, but not looking forward to the studying part of it. However, CYA offers a lot of extra activities and they have fencing!! ;) I would love to do that however it is a bit expensive, but there is always paintball as an alternative, since I have lost my touch with shooting. hehe I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and October. I miss you all so much, eat extra butterfingers and swedish fish for me! Love you all and keep in touch!!

Greece!!

Hey to those who are still reading. I left Rome yesterday, 24 Saturday, and made it safe and sound to Athens. Our apartments are nice, with a living room, kitchen, three bedrooms, and a bathroom. Each bedroom has a balcony which is pretty cool. However, it has been raining this weekend and unfortunately a few of us got caught in it. I am enjoying myself even though I haven't been anywhere nor seen anything. I feel at home, but still miss my family and friends. Wish you all could be here to enjoy it with me. I'll keep you posted on what I am doing for my fall break. Hope everyone is doing well and that it isn't too cold where everyone is at. Have a spookilicious Halloween!!! Miss you and love you!

Finals in Rome!! :/

I can't believe October is almost over!! It has gone by way to fast. This upcoming week for me is finals and they aren't looking to great. SO this past weekend wasn't too spectacular with traveling, but I did do some fun things.

On Friday for my History class we went to Ostia Antica, which was a small town until Rome took it over then it expanded. It was known for its trading and salt mines. The ruins there are amazing, becuase the history of the buildings and city just kept evolving and building on top of one another. It was very historical and I am glad we had Jan, history prof., to take us around other wise I would have gotten lost and wouldn't have seen half the ruins there. After the ruins a small group of us went to see the Basilica of S. Paul which was gorgeous! It is similar to the Basilica of Mary Maggiore, but not quite. It is a massive church that has all the pictures of every pope painted on the top walls all the way around! It was a very beautiful church.

Saturday was kind of a study day, but instead of studying a lot I went shopping for food and other things. I was semi-productive. Then that night a few of us decided to do a night tour of Rome and go see some of the monuments all lite up. We saw Piazza Venezia, Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, Campo de Fiori, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. It was a lot of fun, but a bit cold and naturally I am sniffly and sick. But it was worth it.

Sunday was more productive with studying for the whole day. Then for dinner, it was Evan's birthday, and his restaurant choice was Hard Rock Cafe. That is the picture above of four of us, b/c we got split from the major group. It was good food!!!!! Because we all have been craving a burger!!! hehe Evan had a great time and got a free dessert and we sang to him.

Monday has been productive so far with studying. Naturally I have some paper towels for kleenix and papers scattered everywhere. Tomorrow is my history final at 2, then Wednesday is Theology at 2, and finally Art on Thursday at 9. Then I will fly out to Greece on Saturday! Well I got to get back, history is beckoning! Have a great last week of October!! Hope all is going well! Miss you and love you all!!

Also, Happy Birthday Aunt Karen I hope your trip to Disney World was a blast!! :)

Hello!! How is everyone? Hopefully, some of you can guess where this is from!?!? It is the Duomo in Florence! This past weekend I was there for mostly my art class, but we did get some free time in there. For our art class we got to see a bunch of architecture and museums. And yes the famous David statue. I won't give you all an art lesson, but there are a ton of artwork and statues. And my teacher Paolo was having a fabulous time running us around so we could see all the wonderful works of art. Not to mention took us to a great restuarant for dinner the first night that served Florentine steaks that were 35 euro! They weren't that big in my opinion, but I didn't get it. I did get to see the famous tombs by Michelangelo for the Dukes of Medici which if you are curious you should look them up on google. They are amazingly done plus soo much hidden meaning behind the 4 statues of the day: Dawn, Day, Dusk, Night. I did get to go shopping as well, since it is the leather city of Italy. It was fun bargaining!

The rest of my week is going alright, since it is my last week of classes in Rome. I have been getting to last minute places I want to see. Today I went to the Vatican Museum, which is huge! I did get to see the Sistine Chapel, which was beautiful! I couldn't believe my eyes. Naturally after walking for just a few hours hunger got in the way and we didn't get to see everything in the museum. But the paintings, tapestries, statues, that are in there are just beautiful! Well, I am going to make this a short post because I have some studying to get done since finals are next week. Hope you all are doing well and school/jobs/daily activities are going well! Enjoy some hot apple cider and pumpkin decorating for me!! Love you all!

Naples, Herculaneum, Colosseum, Palatine

Ciao! How is everyone? I hope you are all as well as can be. This past weekend on Friday we went to Naples as a group. Lucky us it was cloudy and had been rainy/misty when we were there. We went to the Archeological Museum there in Naples which had some very neat artifacts, but didn't really strike my fancy. After spending roughly 2 hours there we went on to Herculaneum, which is one of the cities that was destroyed when Vesuvius erupted. The ruins there were amazing to see. It was sad to think that the city was destroyed by lava, but the remains of it seemed to be well intact and preserved. We left Herculaneum and went back to Rome that evening. Mostly everyone went on a pub crawl while Ellen and I hung out and planned what we wanted to see in Rome.

On Saturday we started off in the Colosseum. We went inside and the arena is massive. It is unbelievable how it was built! All of the arches were so cool and the passageways underneath the floor of the arena were amazing to see how they were built. There was also a little museum in there as well which gave a lot of info. about how it was built. After spending some time there we went to Palantino, Palantine Hill. There weren't any hand held maps to tell us what some of the ruins were, but every now and then there would be a few big maps to tell you where you were at. The picture above is from the ruins at Palantino. I conquered those ruins.hehe We did get to see the Casa di Augustus, before some tour guide snapped his fingers at us. After an eventful day we decided that we wanted to hang out with the others that went on the pub crawl the night before. So we met them at Scholars, the Irish bar, (because they are always there) and had some fun and watched the Twins game that was on for us because the bartender knows us very well by now.

Sunday is going to be a relaxing day doing homework and such. Nothing too big planned since most things are closed. Only three more weeks at Rome and time has just seemed to fly on by. I hope you all had a great September and having a fabulous October! Miss you all, and keep me updated with your life as well. Love you!!

Hello All!! I hope everyone is doing just dandy! I know I am, hehe. Well this past weekend was quite eventful. On Friday we went to Subiaco which is where St. Benedict came up with the whole foundation of Benedictian ways, by living in a cave for 3 years! It was hard to imagine a 15yr old boy wanting to live in a cave for three years and coming up with values to support his faith. There was a monastery built over the cave, enclosing it inside. It was really beautiful there. The view was spectacular and the monastery was beautiful. It was amazing to see how it was built into the side of the mountain, so that one wall in the monastery will always by the mountain. It was a very uplifting experience and reminded me of home at CSBSJU. The frescos are amazing and the cave it self is beyond words.

On Saturday a group of us went to Assisi, which is just as gorgeous as Subiaco. The picture is of me in Assisi with the view behind me. It is sooo beautiful there, just amazing. I would love to live there, everything was so peaceful and relaxing. We hiked up a huge hill to the castle there RoccaMaggiore. Which is huge and had spectacular views at the top of the towers. I really enjoyed it. We did make it to the Basilica of St. Francis where we saw the tomb of St. Francis. It was a wonderful place. We went back to Rome that evening and I was really tired from all the walking anc fresh air that I stayed in that night and did mostly homework on Sunday.

This week is going alright. Bennie day was on Monday and some of us went to get gelato at Old Bridge which is the best gelato. Yesterday was a busy walking day learning about the architecture of the Colosseum, Palazzo Venezia, and Michealangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio. And then in History we learned about the Triumphal Procession which was in the Field of Mars and we started in Largo Argentina, then Circus Flaminius, and to Circus Maximus. All in all it was a great day with new knowledge of the city of Rome. Later that night I did go to a bar, Scholars, which is an Irish pub. And it was Kareoki Night!!(spelling needed) I didn't sing on stage but sang with the crowd. It was a lot of fun!! I will be sure to keep up with the pictures and posts as much as I can. Hope you all have a fantastic day/night. Miss you and love you all!!

Weekend Trip to Venezia!

Hello all! I hope everyone is doing well, apparently H1N1 has made its way to CSB/SJU, and I hope everyone there in Minnesota are doing well and avoiding the flu. Going back to my first day of school I had Senior Sem. and then Language class which were good. Then Tuesday I have Art history and history which are on site. (They will probably be my hell days b/c they walk and talk sooo fast). Wednesday I have Senior Sem. and Thursday I have Language. All in all the week went pretty well.
This weekend we decided to go to Venice and leave Thursday night on a night train. It sounded like fun, but I didn't get that much sleep at all. We arrived outside of the island around 5:30 am on Friday. We eventually found the bus to our hostel/campground which suprisingly better than I thought. We decided to head towards Venice and go to St. Marks square. Once we arrived, it was amazing. All the cannals, gondolas, boats, bridges, appartments, it all was just a site! After wandering around for like 2 hours trying to find either the Realto bridge or St. Marks square we finally stumbled across the Realto and then found St. Marks a few minutes after. We went inside the Basilica which was decorated which mosaics and paintings. It was beautiful to see all the gold mosaic tiles they used to make the picture scenes. Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures. After St. Marks we found the Bridge of Sighs which is going under renovation or construction of some sort. Then I followed another group of classmates and we decided to call it a day by 5:oopm and went back to the hostel.
On Saturday we checked out early and made our way to Venice with all of our stuff. This time we went to the Dodge's Palace, which is huge! If I were a kid that lived there it would be an awesome place to play tag or hide and seek in. There was a golden staircase that lead to all the different rooms, which I snuck a picture of, hehe. And in each room, had these gorgeous and huge paintings that were spectacular to see. And most rooms had the original fireplaces. The armory room was so cool to see with the different swords and guns used. The court room where most of the voting goes on, is considered one of the largest rooms in Europe. (just a little fun fact for you all). We made our way to the prisons and walked across the Bridge of Sighs. After the palace we quick made our way to the Museum of Mark which connects with the Correr Museum, but we couldn't spend that much time in there b/c they were closing. But we saw a lot of statues, figurines, and different coins. Once we ate dinner we made our way to the train station to catch the night train back to Rome. This time it was a little better, or at least I got more sleep. Now I am doing homework for the day and organizing things for next week. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a great week. Love you!!

First day of School!!!

Ok I just want to apologize for my mis-spells on the las post. It was 2am in the morning and I can't really spell to begin with.

Before my first day of school I will tell briefly about my weekend.
Saturday: Some roommates and I started the day off the day going to a market with all the different stands and foods. It was amazing! The place was huge and I didn't know where to start or what to buy. But I got some food and came back pretty satisfied. By 2pm we headed out to the Spanish Steps which had the Trinita dei Monti church on top which was magnificent! We incidentaly met another group there and decided to go to the Trevi Fountain which was close by. I didn't throw my penny in yet, I want to see it at night when it is lit up. There was a church next to it, which I do not know the name, but was really beautiful inside as well. We split off into our little group and went to the Piazza Veneza. Along the way we found another church, Church of the Apostles, which held the tombs of two apostles. We made it to the Piazza and saw the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II which was extraordinary! Off to the side we saw the Colosseum, but as we were walking the clouds rolled in and it started raining so we ran for the metro instead. And then I called it a night after getting wet.

Sunday: We decided to go see the pope today when he gave his address. We met at the Vatican around 10:15am and there was a long line to get inside St. Peter's Basilica. We eventually got in and it was beyond words. The church was gorgeous, huge, and elaborate! After walking around, we needed to find where to go to see the pope. We asked and found out he wasn't at St. Peters, but we can still watch on the screens. As we went to find a spot, it started to rain. We did get to see him on the screen and it was pretty cool! Afterwards, we found the times for mass and decided to go at St. Peter's Basilica. Once it was over, we found food and went back to the apartment. We all took naps while it thunderstormed outside. While eating dinner, Harry Potter 5 was on in Italian which was pretty funny. And there were also fireworks going off, but we couldn't see them.

First Day of School: Senior Sem. was our first class, which went pretty well. It is a small room with the desks packed close together. After 3 hours we got lunch for two hours until our next class. The afternoon class was language and culture, and our proffessor was not going to speak english at all. I was scared, but it was actually better than I thought. He was really funny, and he looks like Albert Einstein, except his hair isn't all white, I understood most of it, but can't spell worth anything (go figure). Afterwards, my roommate and I had to meet our instructors for dinner which was amazing. Then once it was over, we had to stop for gelato at the best placce in Rome, Old Bridge, which was heaven. (Especially for my first gelato here; that's right I've been good) Now I'm just getting for another day. Hope everyone is doing well and having a great time wherever you are. Love you all!

Surviving ;)

Hello Everyone!!
I made it to Rome safe and sound with all my luggage. I arrivrd on Wednesday 9th around 10:30am Roman time (5:30am midwestern time). We met with the group and directors at Termini and ventured off to find our apartments. After asking three Italians, and going in one wrong direction we finally found it! The apartment is amazing and we get a tv in every room, a wonderful kitchen, and two bathrooms with showers, sinks, and a boudae! I'm living with five other girls who are fantastic. We basically called it a day after getting some pasta for dinner and then went to bed.
The next day, the 10th, we met with our directors and the whole group at the St. Agnus church where the Literature prof. , Camille, took us around and told us some stories and histroy of Rome. We went to the Pantheon and Campo de Furie, which is a market. After that the day was ours and we ventured around the area and then went to the Vatican. It was a gorgious place to see St. Peter's Square, it is alomost intimidating with the size and openess. We ended the night celebrating on of my roommate's 21st birthday and had everyone over at our apartment. It was quite interesting.
On Firday 11th, we got a tour of our school, Dilit International. There are three different buildings that are moderately close. Hopefully I can remember where they are at! Later in the afternoon we went to the American Embassy, where we met with the Embassador Miguel Diaz. (He was a SJU Theo. prof. before he was given this opportunity). He seems very happy where he is at and very humble. He was glad to see us Johnnies and Bennies. After that we got to do whatever for the day, so we decided to go back and veg. for a bit and then go meet up with people to go out on the town. Which didn't really happen, but a small group of us decided to go near the Vatican where there was a concert set up with a local band. It was actually great music, for not understanding Italian. We then saw the St. Peter's square again but this time it was lit up so it looked amazing! After that we decided to call it a night since it was 1:00am. I will hopefully get pics. up soon. Hope you all are doing well and are having a great September! Love you all!

Pre-Departure

Hey all!
I hope everyone had a wonderful summer! I've started this blog to let you know what is going on in Europe when I'm there. For those who don't know I am studying abroad in Rome, Italy and Athens, Greece. I will be studying Theology, Art History, History, Language, and Senior Sem. I will be in Italy until Oct. 24th and move to Greece and live there until Dec. 18th. I will try to keep this blog updated weekly, but I can't make any promises. If you have any suggestions, or places I should go, please let me know!! And please keep me updated with your life as well, by emailing or facebooking me. Hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy the future blogs!